A Past Once Hidden
by VMLOV83
Summary: Someone from Sara's past returns. How will she cope when the life she always kept hidden begins to be revealed. Please read. GSR. Completed.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing to do with CSI

**A Past Once Hidden**

**Chapter 1**

Sara Sidle looked at the scene around her, she knew now that she had a long night ahead of her, she would probably have to pull a double. On the floor in front of her lay a dead male. He had been stabbed repeatedly. A few feet away lay a woman, in the woman's hand there was a gun, and from the looks of things Sara didn't have to guess where the bullet was. It look like a definite murder suicide.

"wow this place is a mess" came a familiar voice behind her. She turned around to see Nick in the doorway.

"nice of you to show Nick, I thought I was going to have to process this all by my self" Sara said to him in the crankiest voice she could muster.

"oh knock it off Sar, the traffic was horrendous, and we both know that you would have no problem processing this or any scene by yourself." he said as he nudged her with his shoulder as he walked past towards one of the body's. 

"I know that," she tells him with a smirk, "your just here so I have something good to look at while I work" she laughs as he flexes his muscles at her.

"ok, fun times over, tell me what we have tonight" he asks as they get into work mode.

"we have two dead body's. Husband and wife. It appears that the wife stabbed the husband and then turned a gun on herself. Only problem is I can't see a knife in this room" she tells him as she motions towards the bodies in the room.

"any sigh of a struggle or a third party" Nick asks as he sets his kit down next to the husband and bends down to have a better look.

"I haven't gotten that far yet, I'm still waiting for David to get here to clear the bodies."

"he was leaving the lab just behind me so he should be here soon, if he isn't held up in traffic."

" well while we wait I'm going to start checking other rooms, I'll be upstairs if you need me." 

Sara turns and leaved the room. The smell of copper still lingers in the air as she heads for the stairs. As she reaches the top of the stairs she notices a closed door. On the door is a pretty sign stating 'Sarah Hideaway'. Sara felt herself being pulled towards the closed door and as she touched the handle a shiver ran through her body. Surprised by the feeling she shook her head to clear the strange feeling that now seemed to run through her body. As she pushed the door opened she was amazed at what she saw. The room was so similar to the one she had grown up in that she nearly though she was stepping back in time. 

Sara had not had the best childhood, over the years she had never seemed to be able to escape her past and what had happened all those years ago. 

She had grown up in a modest home, attached to the bed and breakfast her mother and father owned and ran. From the outside the looked like the perfect family. Her brother was seven years older than her and rather popular at school, she appeared to have doting parents, but appearances could be deceiving.

Behind closed doors her bother had a drug problem, her dad was a drunk and her mother would pretended like there was nothing wrong with the world, a perfect example of this would be one night when she was nine years old she had helped her mother cleaned the whole house spotless before allowing herself to get medical assistance for the broken wrist and bloody gash across her cheek, the result of dinner not being ready in time. That night she told the doctors she had slipped cleaning he floor landing on her wrist and hitting her face on the table as the fell. The smell of cleaning products still lingered on her, making it easy for the doctors to believe her.

Pushing back the memories that flooded her brain, Sara looked around again. The room was the same shade of purple, the white desk by the bed was covered with deserted homework. The comforter in the bed had a unicorn on it as well as a stuffed unicorn. Stepping closer to the bed to get a closer look at the unicorn similar to the one she had long since forgotten.

Looking at the toy now in her hands she notes the red smudges on it, it also then that the notes some more red dotes on the comforter. Looking around quickly she sees a the drops trail to a closed closet door. Moving closer , Sara draws her gun. Quietly she putts her ear to the door, on the other side she hears slight whimpering. Stepping back she opens the door, gun held in front of her.

Looking down she quickly puts the gun away. There at the bottom of the closet is a young girl of about 10 sobbing quietly. She is curled up in a ball in the corner as if trying to disappear.

"Hey there, it's ok, how about you come out of there." Sarah asks quietly not to sure what to do. The girl shakes her head without raising it. "well how bout I join you in there then." lowering herself to the floor Sara moves some shoes aside to lean against the wall next to the girl.

After sitting quietly for a minute Sara leans down to the child next to he and asks, 

"your name is Sarah, right?" she gets a small nod to confirm it, though the girls face is still hidden behind her knees. " you know what? My name is Sara too." the girls turns her tear stained face slightly now to look up at her. "come on lets get out of here." 

Crawling out of the closet Sara stands and offers her hand to the girl still in the closet. A small hand appears from the small girl in front of her, as she helps pull the girl to her feet she see the girl fully for the first time. The whole front of the girls night gown is red with blood

" Nick we need an ambulance" She yells out to her co-worker still down stairs as she sweeps the girl into her arms and quickly carries her out of the room and down the stairs. 

Nick appears as she reaches the bottom, cell in hand. Shocked he looks at the frightened child Sara has in her arms, he flips open his phone.

"this is CSI Stokes" he rushed as someone answers " I need an ambulance at 572 Wescott lane, Winchester. We have an injured girl." he pauses as he follows Sara outside and watches as she lays the girl on the ground. Seeing the amount of blood on the girl and now also on Sara he quickly finishes "you need to hurry, she's lost a lot of blood." he hangs up as Sara pulls her jacket off balls it up and uses to put pressure on the girls bleeding stomach. "What the hell happened here tonight" he asks no one in particular as the young girls eyes start to flutter shut.

"no stay awake" Sara yells at her giving her shoulder a quick shake. The girls eye open again.

"please help me" she whispers softly to Sara before loosing consciousness.

* * *

A woman entered the lobby of the Las Vegas CSI crime lab, she looked unsure of herself, though this was not to unusual for strangers coming to the lab, Judy the receptionist, couldn't help but think she looked oddly familiar. Though she looked to be in her late 50's there was still traces of brown in her now mostly grey hair. She was also a rather tall slender woman, quite attractive for her age, though her nose tilted to the left a little as though it may have once been broken and not been reset properly and the signs of a scar across her cheek. Judy also noted a sadness in her eyes as the reached the desk.

"hi, um, I was wondering, um… is Sara here" she stuttered as if not sure of the she was asking.

" Sara Sidle" Judy asked as she now saw the similarities, at the woman nod she continued, "she is out at a crime scene at the moment, she may not be back for hours."

"no, I'll wait" was all the reply Judy received before the woman turned away and took a seat in a bay of chairs along one of the walls of the building.

* * *

thanks for reading my first chapter. this is my first CSI fic and i hope you enjoyed. i can't wait to hear some feedback... 


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I don't own anything to do with CSI.

**Chapter 2**

Grissom parked his car and got out. Ahead if him an ambulance, a gurney was being pushed towards it. Sara was running along side of it clutching the young girls hand.

"Sara" he calls out as he heads towards the scene.

"I'm going with her, I will see you at the lab later" she yells back, she hopes in the back of the ambulance and the doors are closed before he can reply. Nick walks up beside him.

"what happened here" Grissomcouldn't keep the frustration out of his voice as he turned to the man beside him.

"Sara found the daughter, she was up hiding in her room. She was stabbed. I couldn't get anything else out of Sara, she wouldn't leave the girls side" 

Nick knew he wouldn't like to be stuck in the same room with Grissom and Sara later. He could hear the fight now. Grissom yelling at Sara for getting to involved in her case again. Sara accusing Grissom of having no feelings. It had been a regular argument over the last 7 years. The lab would no doubt feel the tension for days if not weeks. 

Things hadn't been so bad over the last year or so but just recently it had started up again. Unfortunately he hadn't been able to find out what was going on. He never seemed to be able to catch Sara alone, he tried stopping by her apartment a few time but she was never home. He missed their time together, there chats. Sara had become like a sister to him since her arrival in Vegas, they would hang out on there days off, see movies, go out drinking. But she had pulled away this past year. He felt that she was hiding something from him, but she had always been rather secretive about her life.

Grissom just stood there watching the empty space where the ambulance had been. Sara had bee avoiding him for weeks now, a hard task for someone you lived with, and he didn't know why. Whenever he did get her in the same room she would pick fights with him. This was the first time in his life that he had let his personal life had crossed over into his work life. He felt like he was always chasing after her. He and Sara had been together for nearly a year and a half, living together for the past year. No one at work knew that they were even together, and at the moment he wasn't sure how much longer he would be able to hide their relationship.

He sighed as he turned towards the house, he was surprised to see Nick disappear inside the front door, he hadn't even notice him walk away. Pulling out his cell he called Catherine. 

"Cath, I need Warrick and Greg," he paused as she argued with him "I know your in the middle of a case but I need them" he sighed again, now Catherine was pissed at him "listen… CATHERINE… I need Warrick over here, I want Greg to meet me at Desert palm. I will send you Sara as soon as I can get hold of her" he hung up. Tonight was going to be a long night the thought as he now dialed Sara. 

"Sidle" huffed into her phone when it wouldn't stop ringing.

"Sara,I'm on my way to the hospital, meet me in the lobby" he demanded straight away.

"no, I'm not leaving Sarah, she is alone and scared and I'm the only one she trusts at the moment" she argued.

"no Sara, your off this case. You are too involved already. Honey we need to talk, you need to tell me what's going on with you." he ended up pleading with her.

"I'm not leaving this girl" she tells him as she hangs up and turns her phone off.

* * *

She didn't have the strength to talk to him at the moment. Sara knew as soon as she opened up that she would break, she had held everything in for so long she did not want to loose everything she now had. She knew that sooner rather than later her friends, Grissom, wouldn't be able to look at her the same way. Grissom did know part of her story, but she was never able to tell him everything. She looked down at the pale girl on the hospital bed. How would they react when this is was almost the same scene as the one she had experience some 22 years before, only last time it had been her close to death, her father dead, her mother in jail and her brother missing.

The memories had beenflashing throughher head on repeat for the last 4 weeks,ever since she had received that letter. It was a notification, Laura Sidle had been granted parole. 20 years she had been in jail, 15 since the last timeSara was forced to see her. 22 years since the night her mother had stabbed her and left her bleeding, fighting for her life.

* * *

Brass walked into CSI foyer, he moved towards the hallway that led to the lab. He noticed Judy signaling him with her hands, so he stops by the desk.

"yes" he asks the woman behind the desk.

"see that woman behind you" she whispers loudly, he turns and looks at a woman sitting behind him.

"yes" he turns back "what about her."

"she came in earlier to see Sara, she's been sitting there for the past 3 hours" she tells him as she peers around him to look at the lady in question.

He turns around and walks over to the woman 

"excuse me" she looks up "I hear your waiting to see Sara, unfortunately she is out on a case at the moment and is unlikely to be back for hours" she keeps looking at him not saying anything. " I can take a message if you like, maybe you can make an appointment to see her." she starts to shake her head "is this about a case? Can I answer a question for you?

"no" she says as she stops shaking her head and looks him straight in the eye. "I will wait." she tell him before returning her eyes to her lap.

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Thanks for all the reviews. I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Feedback please!


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything to do with CSI.**

**Chapter 3**

Sara sat with Sarah until she went into surgery. She then sat in the waiting room as she waited for any news. She was sitting there when Greg and Grissom found her. Greg dropped into the seat beside her.

"Hey Sara, rough case" he asks. Not answering his question she passes him an evidence bag.

"these are her clothes, can you process them form" she asks quietly not looking up.

"sure I will do it personally" hoping to give her some reassurance.

He takes the bag and looks up at Grissom who is watching them. He quickly excuses himself to remove him self from harms way and moves further down the hospital hallway. He stops and watches, half expecting an explosion but is surprised when Grissom instead sits down next to Sara looking defeated.

Sara avoided looking at Grissom after Greg had left them. She felt him sit down next to her and sigh.

"Sara, your going to have to talk to me." he tries to get her to look at him but she still won't. "this can't keep happening, your avoiding me at work and at home." he pauses hoping she would respond. She doesn't so he continues "I can't have you finish this this case, your already too involved" he tell he softly.

"no" Sara jumps up startling him. "I'm not leaving, I have to be here for this" she starts pacing in front of him.

"Sara stop this, whatever is going on is affecting your job. I can't let that happen, I'm still your supervisor and I need you to listen to me" he grabs her arm as she goes to cross in front of him again stopping her. "Sara look at me, Honey please" he begs. She looks up and he sees the tears in her eyes.

"I can't leave her" she begs him.

"why? Why can't you leave her? He asks hoping she will finally talk.

"because, she's me." she can't hold back the tears any longer and he pulls her into his lap.

"honey I don't understand." he says as she breaks down in his arms and all he can do is hold and watch as the woman he loves as shefinally gives in to the emotions she had been trying to suppress for weeks.

* * *

Greg who was still watching them from across the room could not hide his surprise as he continued to stand there and watch. Sure he had always known there was something between the two of them, everyone at the lab felt it, but no one ever thought either of the two would ever act on it. But after seeing these events unfold before his eyes he realize that something was going on and looked to have been going on for quite some time.

It was quite a sight seeing the woman he thought of as a sister breakdown she had always been so stong and he was truly worried about her as he watched her cry. Then there was his emotionless (or so he had thought) boss holding her with such love as he tried to comfort her. 

He turns away deciding to give these two very private people the privacy they would have wanted and decides to head to the lab and process the clothes Sara had given him. He looked at the upside of this, at least it would give him a chance to annoy Hodges if he used his lab, Hodges hated people using his lab.

* * *

"Hey Judy, your looking good tonight" he can't help but flirt as he goes past the receptionist. She blushes a little but stops him from passing.

"Greg, do you know how long Sara will be out tonight, there's someone waiting for her." he stops and looks around the empty waiting room before he sees the older women sitting against the wall.

"I don't think we will be seeing her for a while, she's at the hospital at the moment" he says to Judy but watches the other woman as he talks.

She must have heard what he said because she looks up at him, so he walks over to her.

"sorry. You're here to see Sara" he asks the woman.

"yes is she ok, I heard you just say she was at the hospital" she sounds worried so he tries to reassure her.

"yes she is, but she's fine" he half lies. Emotionally she may not have been fine but physically she was. "she is with a young girl that was stabbed tonight," seeing something wash over the womans eyes he continues more carefully "she probably won't be back for hours. It would probably be for the best if you went home and got some sleep and came back tomorrow, maybe make an appointment" he says hopefully. 

She looks away from him. "no I'll wait" is all she says quietly as she keeps her eyes in her lap. 

* * *

Sorry, I know the chapters are short but everything will come out in time. The chapters will get longer soon. Please review and let me know what you think.


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I own nothing to do with CSI**

**Chapter 4**

Grissom shifter slightly trying to get more comfortable as Sara continued to sleep in his arms. The back of the plastic chair was digging into his back and both his legs had gone to sleep from holding Sara on his lap for so long, and it wasn't that she was to heavy, just that he was too scared to move her, he also wasn't ready to let go. 

He still hadn't found out what had had happened tonight, what had happened weeks ago. All he knew was that the woman he was in love with was in pain and he didn't know how to help her.

He felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. He released one of his arms from around Sara's waist and tried to remove his phone from his pocket. His movement causes Sara to stir. She curls up a little more but this time wraps her arms around him. He couldn't help but smile a little as she went still. 

Sara had surprised him when the had started dating. He had never pictured her as a snuggler. But every morning if he woke before her, he would find her wrapped around him. What had also surprised him was how much he enjoyed it. In all his previous relationships he has always wanted space while he slept, but not with Sara. With Sara he was happiest when she was wrapped around him.

Watching her sleep peacefully again he notices that his phone had also stopped ringing. Shifting more carefully this time he pulls his phone out of his pocket. Flipping it open he notices that instead of just the one missed call he actually had five. Scrolling down he notes that they are all from Catherine. He also notices that all five were spread out over the last 2 hours. Had they really been here that long, how had he not noticed the other calls.

Dialing Catherine back she answers almost immediately.

"Gil, where the hell are you?" she barks at him through the phone, he pulls the phone away from his ear a little as she continues without waiting for an answer. "you promised Sara to me over 3 hours ago and she has yet to show up." crap he thought. He hated dealing with Catherine when she was pissed off, and he knew that anything he now had to tell her would piss her off more.

"Cath, I need you to listen to me…" he says quietly trying to calm her a little

"why are you whispering" she demands not letting him finish.

"something's come up, Sara isn't finishing her shift tonight." he tell her.

"why?" she demands "she was fine tonight when you handed out assignments. Is she sick?"

"no she is not sick. Something has come up, that's all I can tell you at the moment"

"something's come up" she yells "I have a big scene here and you've already taken Warrick and Greg off me, I'll be here for hours if I have to do this myself"

"CATHERINE" he says louder than he expected, he quickly looks down at Sara but luckily she continues to sleep. "Catherine" he says quieter this time "tonight everything is not about you for once, other things have come up and for once I ask you to be understanding of that" he can't keep the trace of anger he feels out of his voice "I should be able to sent Greg back to you know, he should be done with what I needed him to do" he finishes. 

He hangs up his phone not waiting to hear what else she has to say. Dialing again, this time Greg

"Sanders" he hears as Greg answers.

"Greg, it's Grissom. How is the processing of the cloths going are you nearly done" he asks

"yeah, I just put the results on your desk, do you have something else for me?"

" Can you go back out to Catherine she needs some help finishing her scene."

"Sure I'll head straight back out there. Ah…. Grissom" he hesitates before continuing. "how's Sara?"

"she will be fine, she just needs a little time at the moment" he explains not going into detail. "she isn't going to come back in tonight and I'm going to give her next few days off, even if it means more work for the rest of us"

"that's fine, anything to help Sara out. Oh, before I forget, when I got back to the Lab tonight there was a woman out in reception. She had been waiting for hours, wanting to see Sara. I didn't get the name of the woman, I think she was here to see Sara about a personal reason."

"really, is she still there?" Grissom asks, wondering who it could be. Maybe it had something to do with why Sara had been upset lately, he now worries looking down at the woman in his arms again.

"yeah, she wouldn't leave. I explained that it could be hours before Sara came back to the lab but she wanted to wait."

"well, can you talk to her again because Sara won't be back at the lab tonight as well as the next few. Find out how the woman is. I might be able to talk to her tomorrow if she doesn't want to wait but Sara is not available at the moment, understand"

"I'll see what I can do. Do you want me to call you back after I spoke to her, let you know what happens"

"yes, call me straight back. Sara doesn't need any added pressure at the moment. But understand this, anything you hear tonight goes no further than between us. You know how private a person Sara is. She doesn't need the whole lab gossiping about her" 

"I understand, I won't let you or Sara down." Greg reassures him before they both hang up.

* * *

Greg was now more worried about Sara. He knew that Grissom wasn't telling him everything, but also remember that Grissom wouldn't let anything bad happen to Sara. The memory of Grissom holding Sara in his arms as she cried relayed in his head. Grissom would protect her, he relaxed a bit as he headed back though to the reception area.

The woman still sat there quietly, he wondered if she had fallen asleep. As he moved closer her head shot up to look at him causing him to jump back.

"hi, sorry to bother you again" he starts, "I just got off the phone with my boss" he pauses as brown eyes watch him waiting for him to continue. 

As she waited for him to go on, he was suddenly reminded him of Sara, she looked at him in the same way when waiting for him to explain something. Surprised he looks at the woman more closely. He hadn't noticed it before, but this woman looked a lot like Sara. He had always thought that Sara had no family. She rarely talked of any, and when she did it was always in past tense. She always worked holidays so the rest of them could go celebrate with there families and he had never questioned that as he though hers was dead.

"um…" he tries to continue, only now he's a little more nervous. "Sara, won't be coming back to the lab tonight he explains "something has come up and she won't be in for a few days" he watched as a sadness crosses he face.

"can you please tell me where I can find her" the woman begs grabbing his hand. "I went to her last know address and was told she no longer lives there" he sees tears appear in her eyes and he doesn't know what he should do. As far as he knew Sara still lived in the apartment she had lived in since she moved to Vegas.

"Grissom, he is our supervisor, said if you needed too he could meet you tomorrow night" he says trying to pull his hand away.

"no I don't want to see anyone other than Sara. Please tell me where she is, please I have so much to explain to her, please" she begs not letting go him. 

Now what do I do, Greg wonders sadly. This was definitely not what he had expected when he had come out to talk to her.

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_So what do you think? Please review and leave your thoughts. Good or bad I take them all._


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: I don't own CSI.**

**Chapter 5**

Grissom answered his phone first ring.

"Grissom" he says quietly.

"Dr Grissom, This is Judy from reception. Greg asked me to call. He's having a problem with the woman waiting here for Sara. He went to pass on your message and she didn't take it well. She now won't let him go and won't stop crying. She's begging to see Sara. She' been here for 7 hours waiting, I can only imagine how tired she is" Judy tells him sadly.

"were you able to at least find out who she is" he asks wondering what the hell was going on.

"we haven't got a clear answer, she won't stop crying and asking for Sara. I think they might be relatives, she looks a bit like a n older version of Sara."

"what?" now he was confused.

The only person he could think of was Sara's mother, but she was in jail, wasn't she? Sara would have told him if… suddenly it hit him. Could this be what Sara had been hiding these last few weeks, her mother being released. Why hadn't she told him? He looks down at the woman sleeping in his arms and returns his attention to the women on the other end of the phone.

"have Greg take her to my office. Have them wait there and I will get there as soon as I can" he tell her and hangs up as a doctor approaches.

"your waiting on information about Sarah Walters" he is asked just nodding to the doctor in reply the doctor continues. "she lost a lot of blood but the knife missed all her organs, she's going to be fine" he tells him with a smile.

"thank you doctor, when will she be awake" he asks

"it won't be for hours. We want her body to take some time to recover so we are going to keep her sedated for a few hours, it would be best if you get some rest and return in the morning"

"thanks" he says offering the doctor his hand.

"your welcome" he says shaking his hand before turning to leave.

"she's going to be ok" he hears Sara whisper and he looks down.

"honey, good your awake, how much did you hear." he asks sweeping some hair out of her face.

"I woke up when I heard her name" she says pulling back "can I stay with her"

"something has come up, we have to head back to the lab" she is about to protest but he stops her "you heard the doctor, she's going to be asleep for hours." rubbing his thumb across her cheek he asks "honey, why didn't you tell me your mum was out of jail" she pull away and pushes herself off his lap but he keeps hold of her hand so she can't get far.

"how… how did you know" she asks as he see tears appear in her eyes again. He pulls he over to sit next to him and turns in his seat to face her.

"a woman came into the lab earlier tonight" he start not taking his eyes off her as she registers this information. "she asked to see you, she has sat there for seven hours refusing to leave. Greg mentioned her to me when we talked a short while ago" he stops as Sara starts shaking her head.

"no. no . no" she keeps repeating as she tries to pull her hand away, but he won't let go.

"Sara, Sara honey, listen. I told Greg to tell her that I was sending you home that you wouldn't be in for a few days, she broke down and is refusing to leave until she sees you. Judy called me just before the doctor came out. She mentioned that the woman looked like an older version of you. Is this what you found out, is this why you've been pulling away." she now won't look at him. "honey, please I just want to help"

"I don't want your pity, please I can't do this" she cries trying to pull away.

"no, Sara I know how much your past has hurt you but you can't hide from it anymore. Your mother is here. She's at the lab wanting to see you.

"you don't know half the hurt I have felt, were you abused from even before you can remember" she now yell at him "did your brother desert you even after promising that he would always protect you. Did your father ever sneak into your bed, did your mother stab you as well when killing your father, were you passed around foster home after foster home because no one wanted you." seeing the absolute shock on his face she continues only this time at a whisper "you will never know the hurt I have felt. Why are you even still here, I have been broken for so long how could anyone want me."

"Sara, I have always wanted you, always will" he stands up and pulls her into his arms. "please don't ever think I don't want you. You are the most important person In the world to me. I would be nothing if I lost you" he held her as she wept. Over her shoulder he now notices everyone watching them. "come on honey, lets get you home." this time she doesn't fight as he leads her out of the hospital.

Once he get her into his car he pulls out his phone and dials the one person how can help him at the moment.

"Jim" He says when his call is answered "I need you to meet me at my townhouse. I have something to take care of and Sara can't be alone at the moment." after getting the answer he is waiting for he hangs up and gets into the car.

25 minutes later he pulls into there driveway, noting Brass already there waiting for him. Grissom rushes around and help Sara out of the car and they move towards the house.

Looking at the tears running down Sara's face Brass rushes over to them.

"what happened, is she ok?" he asks voice full of concern.

"let me get her upstairs and into bed and then we will talk" he tells his friend.

As he opens the front door there dog runs over to greet them

"Hank, sit, stay." he stops the dog as he leads Sara to the stairs. Brass pats the dogs head in greeting and follows Gil and Sara up stairs.

He had known about there relationship for months. He and Gil had gone out drinking one night after a hard case. After having a little too much to drink they had taken a cab home. Gil had stumbled getting out of the cab and he had decided to help his friend to the door. As Grissom fumbled with his keys the door swung open revealing an angry Sara.

"Sara, what you doing here?" he had asked confused. But got an answer when his friend said

"duh, she lives here." as if it was common knowledge. Sara at least managed to look embarrassed as she helped them through the door and onto the couch.

"wait here" she told them as she ran out the door and took car of the cab driver still waiting. When she had re-entered the house she had marched over to them

"when you said you were going out for a drink after work I wasn't expecting to be woken to find two drunk men on my porch." she huffs at them. "Brass you can sleep on the couch, I'll get you a pillow and throw." she returns a moment later and passes him the pillow and blanket. "Gil if you can make it up stairs you can join me otherwise your on the floor" with that she turned and left them.

He watched as Grissom put Sara to bed, then they move back out into the hallway.

"what happened tonight" he asked concerned.

"I can't talk about it at the moment, just stay with her until I get back, if you need me you can reach me on my cell. I'll be back as soon as possible." taking one last look at his girlfriend he left the town house.

20 minutes later he entered the lab, with a quick hello to Judy as he passed he headed straight for his office. As he entered Greg looked up relieved to see him. The woman still had his hand and he hadn't been able to get away from her. He was thankful that she had at least stopped crying. Grissom turned his attention from Greg to the woman sitting beside him. Moving towards them he introduced himself.

"Mrs Sidle, it's nice to finally meet you, I'm Gil Grissom" he says offering her his hand.

* * *

So what do you think? I'm sure by now no one was surprised to find out the woman was Sara's mother. I can't wait for any feedback and review you can give me. I'll update again soon.


	6. Chapter 6

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Disclaimer: i don't own CSI

Chapter 6

"Mrs Sidle, it's nice to finally meet you, I'm Gil Grissom" Grissom says offering her his hand.

Laura Sidle does not take his hand instead she just stares at it. Greg is standing next to her adjusting to what he had just heard. He looks over at the woman in amazement. He had, of course, noticed the similarities earlier but to now know the truth he couldn't help but be shocked. Sara had never mentioned her mother in the seven years he had known her, but here she was now.

When he had witnessed Sara's breakdown earlier he had thought it to be about the case she had been working on, it would not have been the first time she had gotten emotionally involved, he had just never known it to have this big an effect on her. But now he had to wonder, was there more to it, Sara had been distracted for weeks, did what happen earlier really have to this woman, Sara's mother.

Suddenly hearing his name he looks up to see both Grissom and Mrs Sidle watching him.

"Sorry did you say something, Grissom"

"Yes, I need you to go meet Catherine, if you have any problems from her about being late direct her to me" he pauses still watching me "Greg… you can go now"

"right sorry, I'll see you later" he says quickly rushing out of the room.

With Greg now gone, Grissom moves to close his door before turning back to the woman sitting at his desk. He crosses the room again and sits down behind his desk facing her.

"sorry about the wait you've had this evening, I know you have been here for hours," he offers an apology, a little nervous by the fact that he was also just now meeting his girlfriends mother.

"is Sara on her way" she asks.

"unfortunately Sara isn't well tonight and I had to send her home." he tells her hoping to buy them some time.

"well where can I find her then. I went to an apartment this afternoon but was told she no longer lived there, can you give me her address." she pleads him.

"I'm sorry, Mrs Sidle, I can't give out that information. How about we set up a meeting for you when Sara is feeling better, if you would like to leave me your hotel details I can contact you in a few days."

"why are you keeping my daughter away from me" she stands up demanding. "I have a right to see her, I want to see her!" she leans over the desk towards him.

"I'm not keeping your daughter from you. You need to calm down, this will not help your situation. At the moment Sara is not ready to see you, and you need to be understanding of that. You can't force her to see you." he warns her sitting back, watching her carefully.

"she told you what I did, didn't she. I can see it in your eyes. You have to know I was only trying to protect her from him. I couldn't let him hurt us anymore" she sits back down looking a little defeated.

"I don't know the whole story, Sara doesn't like to talk about her past too much. I also know Sara can' be forced to do anything she doesn't want to do, I think you need to give her some more time. To get used to the idea." he pushes a tissue box across the desk as a tear fall down her cheek.

"I have a letter," she tells him opening her purse "can you give it her, it will help her understand" she hands it to him and he takes it.

"I will pass it on. Is there somewhere she can contact you" he asks getting up.

"I am staying at the holiday inn, just off the strip, room 719." she tell him also standing.

The leave the office and make there way back to the reception area.

"I'll be in touch soon" he tells her " just be patient"

"thank you Dr Grissom" this time she shakes his hand and then walks out.

Grissom Let out a sigh of relief as she walked away. It hadn't gone to bad, he looks at the letter in his hand. What was in it he wondered. Would it help bring the closure Sara was in desperate need of, I hopes so, he thinks as he places it in his pocket.

Brass was sitting on the couch quietly watching TV when he hears screaming up stairs.

" NO, GET OFF ME" he hears Sara yell, even at a distance he can hear the panic in her voice.

Getting up quickly he grabs his gun and runs up the stairs two at a time. He gets to Sara's bedroom and goes straight in without knocking expecting to find her being attacked. Sara is on the bed thrashing around caught in the bed sheets, crying in her sleep.

"no please not again, stop, please daddy" she continues to cry.

He moves over to the bed. He reaches out his hand and tries to sooth her, to wake her up from the dream that is scaring her so much.

"Sara, cookie, wake up, it's just a dream"

"no daddy stop, no please stop, please get off me" she begs again not waking up.

"Sara, you need to wake up, no one is hurting you. Come on cookie, it's ok, open your eyes" he says worried when she still fights him off.

"don't, your hurting me daddy, it hurts" she cries, rears running down her cheeks as she continues to dream. He lifts her a little to hold her in his arms as he once again tries to wake her.

"wake up Sara, it's over, your ok, please, you need to wake up" finally she seems to respond to his words as she stops struggling and seems to relax a little, it is another moment before she opens her eyes.

Jim quickly wipes a tear from his eye as she looks at him.

"Jim what are you doing here" she still has a trace of fear in her voice.

"Sara, you were having a nightmare, you screamed. You scared the hell out of me, what the hell happened to you?" he asks not able to keep the anger out of his voice." did your father hurt you when you were a child, do you need to talk. I will listen, I want to understand, you scared me so…."

Sara jumps off the bed and is across the room in an instant, she slams the bathroom door and he hears her throwing up on the other side. He crosses the room, trying the to open the door, he finds that she has locked it. Worried he pulls out his phone.

Grissom hadn't expected to hear from Brass, he had only been gone for a little over an hour. He had just turned to his street when his cell rang.

"Grissom" he answers

"Gil, it's Jim. Sara had a nightmare, I was able to wake her but she's now sick, she's locked herself in the bathroom and I can't get to her"

"I'm just pulling up, I'll be there in a minute" Grissom hangs up and throws his phone on his passenger seat as he pulls into his drive.

He puts the car in park, turns it off and runs for the house. He finds Jim upstairs in the bedroom knocking on the bathroom door, begging Sara to let him in.

Running over he too starts knocking.

"Sara, honey, it's me. Open up." he calls through the door and is relieved to hear the lock turn and the door open. Inside Sara is still sitting on the floor next to the toilet.

"Gil, I don't feel so good" she manages to say before she slumps to the floor unconscious.

i upgraded the story to M just to be safe. i know i didn't really get into it with Grissom and Sara's mother but i think that is something that should be between the two woman, and i think Grissom would understand that. what do you think, let me know.


	7. Chapter 7

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Disclaimer : i do not own CSI

Chapter 7

When Sara opens her eyes, she doesn't know when she is. Looking around her she notices she is in a hospital room. Trying to think back she remembers being in the bathroom floor sick, but how did she end up her? How long was she out? Feeling someone holding her hand she looks down and smiles at the sight to Gil Grissom asleep with his head on the bed beside her, she decides to wake him as the knows how sore his back would be tomorrow.

"Gil, wake up." she tells him running a hand through his hair. His head jerks up as he suddenly jumps out of his seat.

"Sara, your awake, how do you feel, we should call the doctor" he says all at once as he takes her face in his hands.

"calm down Griss, I'm fine." she tells him softly as he places a kiss to her forehead "why am I here. I remember feeling sick, but what happened" she asks him as she move over on the bed so he can join her.

"Jim called an ambulance. You really scared him tonight, you scared me as well." he tells her wrapping his arms around her.

"where is he now? Is he ok?" she asks

"he went to get us some coffee, he should be back any minute" he tells her "I think he will be ok now your awake"

"why was he even at the house, where did you go?" she questions him.

"I didn't want to leave you alone, I trusted brass to keep an eye on you, after what happened earlier I wasn't ready to leave you alone" she curls into him more as she remembers the earlier events. "I had to go to the lab, Greg was having some trouble with your mother."

"you saw my mum" she draws back to look at him

"yes, she really wants to meet with you" he feels Sara start to shake in his arms "honey calm down, I told her you weren't up to meeting her yet. That reminds me, she gave me a letter for you to read, hang on it's in my pocket" he moves to pull the letter out of his pocket but is surprised to find it empty "what, where is it" he says out loud as he tries his other pockets.

"Gil, what's the matter"

"the letter, it must have fallen out, it's ok, I'm sure it is at home or in my car, I'll find it for you later." he tells her hoping he is right. The only other place he had been was at the lab and that was just to lock his office before he left.

Before they can continue there conversation, the door to her room is pushed open and Brass enters. Seeing that she is now awake he rushes over.

"thank God, your awake. Are you ok cookie?"

"Jim, I'm fine, I'm sorry I worried you." she tells him reaching out a hand and gives his a squeeze.

A nurse enters the room,

"your awake, good, the doctor will be here in a minute with the results of your blood test" she tell them as she quickly checks the IV in Sara's arm.

"I had a blood test, how long was I out?" Sara asks confused, what kind of results came back so quickly, was there something wrong with her. She looks at Grissom for the answer as the nurse as already left the room.

"I'm sure there is nothing seriously wrong honey, it's just a precaution. You were unconscious for a couple of hours. You haven't eaten or slept well in weeks, you've been under a lot of stress, you were dehydrated, your body just need to get some rest, and your going to get it, I am giving you the next week of work," she starts to argue "no, I'm playing the boss card now, you are no good to me at work the way you are at the moment, you are going to take the time to rest. No arguments"

"fine, I won't argue if you don't try to keep me from checking on Sarah, she should be awake soon. I don't want her to be alone at the moment." she bargains with him.

"I'm sure some relative would be here by now, I'm sure she won't be alone, but if it will make you happy we will go check on her as soon as your released" he agrees.

* * *

Catherine entered the lab hours after she should have finished. Tonight she had worked mostly by herself and even after she was told she would be receiving help it had been hours till someone arrived to help. She marched towards Grissom's office hoping he hadn't left yet so she could give him a piece of her mind. She slams her hand into the wall when she reaches the office to find the lights out and the door locked. Pulling out her cell she tries to call him, after a moment it is answered, "this is Grissom, unfortunately I can…" she snaps her phone shut and lets out a huff of frustration .

This was so like Grissom she thinks as she kicks his door, he was always avoiding confrontation and right now she needed to vent. After giving the door another kick she turns to leave, she may as well get home and try to sleep so she could at least see her daughter this evening since she had missed her this morning… again.

As she starts to walk away her foot slips slightly on something, she looks down to see an envelope on the floor, bending down to pick it up she notices that there is something inside. Curiously she opens the envelope and pulls out the piece of paper, unfolding it she begins to read.

* * *

i know i keep creating more angst, i have a problem, i can't stop. i hope to have a happier fluff chapter soon. just give me some more time, im still sorting out where this is going and it is still swirling around in my head. let me know what you think so far. i love the feed back. that's to all those kind enough to review, i'm glad you seem to be enjoying the story.


	8. Chapter 8

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Diclaimer: i do not own CSI

Chapter 8

Catherine let the piece of paper slip from her hands. As shocked as she was at what she had just read, it did help her understand her the brunette better. The reactions she had towards certain cases, how privacy she was when it came to her life outside of work. She had just never thought that she had lived through such an experience.

Looking down at the letter at her feet she picks it up. Sara would be upset if she knew someone had read something so private, she folds it and puts it back in he envelope. What should she do with it, Sara must have dropped it earlier, she may have not even noticed it was lost yet.

Coming up with an idea she heads to the locker room. She takes the letter and pushes it through the air slots on the locker door, there, she would think she let it in her locker, she will have no idea someone else had seen it. She collects her stuff together and heads home knowing that from now on she would definitely have more time for the other woman on the team and would be more understanding when the harder cases came up.

* * *

Back at the hospital, Grissom and Sara were looking at each other in shock, Brass stood off to the side and was chuckling to himself. The looks on there faces were priceless. The Doctor had just left the room after delivering a surprising announcement.

"but how…"Grissom sputters,

"my guess would be the usual way" Brass laughs at his friend.

"how could I not know, it's my body, I should have noticed something" Sara says to no one in particular. "what are we going to do. We never even talked about this"

"it will be fine, were in this together, never forget that" Grissom tries to reassure her,

"no, you can't say everything will be fine, everything is going to change. What will everyone think, we can't hide this." Sara begins to panic as it now starts to sinks in.

"Sara, calm down, you heard what the Doctor said, no stress, your body is dealing with a lot at the moment, we have to relieve some of it not add more." Seeing Brass still enjoying himself across the room he barks "your not helping"

"I'm sorry, I cant help it, you should have seen your faces, I am happy for you by the way, can't wait for the news to get out, you have to promise not to tell anyone unless I'm there to witness the reactions."

"that's it funnyman, your out of here" he starts to push his friend to the door but stops when he hears Sara start laughing, he turns around, at his expression she laughs harder.

"he's right, the look on there faces will be so good, I mean they are supposed to be some of the best CSI's in the country but we have managed to have a relationship, live together, for over a year and a half and non of them have worked it out yet" seeing her Laugh like this eases some of the tension he has felt over the past few weeks, he couldn't help but chuckle a little as well. "just knowing you finally got up the courage to ask me out, would be shock enough, but living together, owning a dog and now this." looking at Gil she asks him, "do you think it would make it easier if I told them how you finally asked me out, a laugh might make thing a little easier on them."

"hey" Grissom objects.

"What, I haven't heard this story, I want to hear this." Brass begs Sara

"no, that is between us, it's private" Grissom tells him.

"ah, honey, don't be embarrassed, it was sweet really" she tell him trying to keep her face straight. "it wasn't your fault you fell, and you were able to get rid of the smell"

"I'm hooked" Brass tells her moving closer. "tell me more"

"nope story time is over. Time for you to leave" he tries to push Brass back towards the door.

Sara continues watching while laughing, feeling better than she had in weeks. She knew she should of felt a little guilty about teasing Gil like this but his attempt to ask her out had been a disaster, she had to say yes just to ease his embarrassment, it had become a run longing joke between them, something she liked to remind him of. It was one of the only times she had seem the man, who always had to have things go according to plan, have no control at all.

__

It had been a week after their case at the mental institution. Since the night Adam Trent had attacked her she had noticed Grissom watching her whenever he was around. That night they were working together again on a decomp. A body had been found in a wine barrel in someone's cellar. Sara had just emptied the barrel and was getting rid of the 'soup' that had been inside, she hadn't heard Grissom as he entered the room and he startled her when he said "I think we should have dinner" she had spilt a little of what she was carrying and Grissom had slipped in it.

As he fell he had knocked her off balance as well and she had lost hold of the bucket. He ended up head to toe in the remains of there victim. All he could do was sit there in shock and as he tried to stand he slipped again. Sara hadn't meant to laugh but it was such a funny sight. At the sound of her laughter he stopped struggling to get up and just glared at her. Seeing the glare she stops.

""I'm sorry Grissom, are you ok?" she asked him as she had offered him her hand to help him up.

He had pushed her hand away and was able to finally stand, as he went to leave the room he had slipped over again setting her laughter off again. Rushing over to him she said,

"let me help you Griss" he reluctantly took her hand and she helped him up "come on let get you to the showers, I have some lemons in my locker, I'll share them with you" he still hadn't looked at her when the reach the locker room. She got the lemons out of her locker and starts to hand them over but doesn't let go as he starts to take them "if it helps" she pauses looking him the eye "I think we should as well" she had let go of the bag and left. After he had cleaned up he caught up with her again. They set the date and had been together ever since.

Sara smiles at the memory. Hearing a door slam she finds that she is now alone in the room with Grissom.

"Having some fun over there, Miss Sidle," he asks her with Laughter in his eyes.

"I am." she smiles back at him. "come on, I want to see Sarah before visiting hours are over"

"were ever you lead, I will follow, my dear" he presses a kiss to her forehead and helps her off the bed.

* * *

So what do you think? i thought i might Lighten the mood for a chapter. leave a review with you thoughts. thanks


	9. Chapter 9

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Disclaimer: I do not own CSI

Chapter 9

After leaving Sara's room Grissom and Sara work their way over to the pediatric wing of the hospital. They stop and get the room number we need before continuing on. When they reach the door Grissom stop Sara.

"honey, are you going to be ok"

"I'll be fine Griss, I need to know how she is doing, that she has someone here with her,"

"ok, you go in, I'll find the doctor, find out what's going on, I might as well get some answers for the case while I'm here." he tells her knowing she would need a little time with the girl.

"thanks, I'll wait here for you, love you" she tells him as she gives him a kiss before entering the room shutting the door behind her.

Grissom stands there for a moment before returning to the nurses station to find the doctor.

Sara stood just inside of the closed door. On the bed in front of her lay the girl hat brought so many memories back to her. Sarah seemed to be still asleep so she moves quietly across the room and takes a seat next to the bed. As she sits down the chair moves on the tiled floor making a high pitch noise. The girl on the bed jumps awake startled by the noise. Seeing the scared eyes look over at her Sara jumps up Quickly.

"it's ok sweetie, your safe" she tries to sooth the girl "I didn't mean to frighten you"

Sarah at last seems to recognize her and she seems to relax. Sitting back down Sara takes her hand.

"how are you feeling" she asks softly

"hurts" was all the response she gets.

"I know it does, sweetie, but your going to be ok. I won't let anything happen to you again"

Outside in the hall Grissom was waiting for the doctor. About five minutes later the doctor appeared.

"Dr Peters, good to see you again," Grissom shakes the mans hand before continuing. "I didn't get a chance to introduce myself last night, I'm Gil Grissom with the Las Vegas Crime Lab"

"that explains a few things" the doctor tells him. Off of the confused look the doctor receives he continues " last night I thought you were Sarah Walters family, when Social Services arrived a little while ago, they explained the events of last night, that Sarah was now an orphan, she has no living relatives" he explains

"Sorry about the confusion, my girlfriend was the one that found the little girl, it brought back some memories from her own childhood and she was quite upset last night. She is in visiting Sarah at the moment."

"ok, so what can I do to help you today"

"well just a few questions about the case, have you got any files on the family, possible past abuse" I have already pulled all family files for social services. It looks like there may have been some previous abuse but the visits to the hospital weren't regular to draw attention to it. I have a couple records about broken bones and one of internal bleeding, they came with the standard stories of falling down the stairs, falling off bikes and out of trees."

"is there any signs of sexual abuse?" Grissom hated asking this question, but knew he needed the answer.

"there are signs though they appear to have only started recently, there is no scaring so it rules out long term sexual abuse."

"is there anything else you can tell me about Sarah current condition"

"though there was a lot of blood loss, the wound wasn't too deep, it looks like it may not have been intentional, like maybe she just got in the way of the attack. We are keeping her in hospital for another couple of days before we release her to social services, from there she will go into foster care, she will need to come back in a few times for bandage changes and to get the stitches out, but I see a full recovery" Dr Peters tells him.

"Can I get copies of these records as well as the records for Denise and Henry Walters" he asks.

"I will have them sent over to you lab"

"thanks for your time doctor"

"no problem, if you have anymore questions please give my a call, here is my card" he hands over a business card "you can get me on any of those numbers."

The doctor turns and leaves and Grissom goes back to the door where he left Sara earlier. He knocks on the door before entering.

"sorry to interrupt, it's just me" he says as he enters.

Sara looks over at the door as he enters, feeling the little hand tighten its grip on hers she turns her attention back to the girl on the bed.

"it's ok, this is Gil," she tells Sarah before leaning in close to her ear and whispering "don't worry, he wouldn't hurt a fly, he'd rather play with it." she is relieved when the girl giggles slightly in response.

Grissom who had moved across the room and now stood beside her watches the interaction of the two.

"should I be worried about what your telling this girl about be" he asks in a stern voice but is unable to keep the smile off his face.

"honey, I was just telling her the truth, nothing to worry about" is the answer he receives as she takes his hand with her empty one.

"that's ok then" he tells her, still smiling he turns to Sarah who is still watching him cautiously "Hi Sarah, it's nice to finally meet you. Would you mind if I borrowed your friend here for a minute, she will be back in a minute." Sarah responds with a small nod so he helps Sara out of here chair and leads her over towards the door. Lowering his voice he tells her " Honey, I need to head into work, we need to get going so I can drop you off home beforehand."

Sara looks down at her watch "but you still have hours before shift starts"

"I know, but if I have to leave early tomorrow to make out ultrasound appointment then I need to go in early to get some paper work done." he tells her.

"Gil, I want to stay here a little longer, I can get a taxi home later" he starts to protest but she stops him "don't worry, I'll be careful, no stress, I will eat something as well as get some sleep"

"fine, but if you need anything call me. I'm going to have Nick come in tomorrow morning to talk to Sarah about the case. Someone from social services may stop by as well."

"social services, what about her family" Sara now starts to worry

"She doesn't have any, social services is looking into foster homes for her when she get out of here in a couple of days, so I'm sure they will be in and out a few times, don't worry, everything will work out, just let her know that some people will be needing to talk to her, help her be prepared." he raises her hand and kisses her palm, "I have to go, please don't stay to long, you need to rest." she gives him a silent nod and he turns to leave.

Sara moves back over to the bed and sits back down, she sits there silently as thoughts run through her head, a small hand taking hers again pull her back and she smiles down at the worried girl lying in the hospital bed watching her.

* * *

Another chapter done, don't think I have forgotten Sara's mother she will be back soon. Please let me know what you think. I have loved the feedback I received so far and can't wait to hear what you think of this chapter.


	10. Chapter 10

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Disclaimer: I do not own CSI

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Chapter 10

Grissom had been sitting in his office for hours going though the mountain of paperwork on his desk before he was interrupted by a knock on his office door. Looking up he saw Greg standing there.

"How's Sara doing?" he asked choosing not to enter.

"She'll be fine. She's just been under a lot of stress lately, so she is taking the week off to rest before coming back to work," Grissom told him. Checking his watch he noticed that their shift was about to start. "I'll be out with assignment in a few minutes."

He dismissed Greg and turned back to the work in front of him to finish the form he was working on. Once he had it completed he collected the assignment slips on his desk and made his way to the break room where his team was waiting.

"Good evening," he greeted everyone. "How are everyone's cases from last night going?" he asked, turning to Nick to start.

"The Walker case looks to be a murder suicide, there is no evidence of a third party. I still have to determine what the daughters part in that was but she was in surgery last night."

"I have set it up for you to go by the hospital first thing in the morning to talk to Sarah Walker, she is awake and alert. The doctor said that from the look of the stab wound it may not have been intentional, Sarah may have just got in the way…

...There are records of possible past physical abuse, as well as sexual abuse, though it looks like the sexual abuse has only recently started. The doctor is sending copies of the families medical histories tonight. I need you to go over them and contact other hospitals to see if there are any more reports." At the look of surprise on the team's faces he went on to explain. "I was at the hospital earlier. I spoke to Doctor Peters, he's the girl's physician. I have his business card if you have anymore questions." He handed the business card over to Nick.

"Ahh…thanks Grissom," Nick said as he took the card. He was surprised that Grissom had done this, but it did make his job a little easier.

Grissom then turned to Catherine.

"How about your case?" he asked.

"Break and enter in Henderson, turned violent. Elderly woman was taken to hospital, broken arm; bruising and she needed (12) twelve stitches to her face. She was kept over night but released this afternoon. House was totally trashed, jewelry and electronics stolen. Broke in through the back door. Last night I left fingerprints with Mandy and DNA with Wendy and they're both still processing. I'll be interviewing Mrs Fellows in the morning with Vartann."

"Good do you still need Greg or can I use him for a new case?" Grissom asked,

"At the moment we're just waiting for results, we can both start new cases if needed." Catherine tells him.

"Good then you both can have the armed robbery," he passed Catherine the slip. "Warrick, I have a DB at the Tropicana take Nick with you until he needs to leave for his interview. I'll be here working on paperwork. Call if you need me." He started to leave the room but was stopped by Catherine.

"What about Sara, where is she?"

"Sara is taking some time off, she'll be back next week," he told them, and tried to leave again but was stopped this time by Nick.

"Is she okay?" he asked sounding worried.

"She's fine, just needs some personal leave. Come on guys don't keep your scenes waiting." He turned again and left the team behind him.

"What's going on with Sara lately anyway?" Warrick asked having noticed that she had been withdrawn recently.

"She hasn't talked to me but she reacted badly to last nights case. Grissom took her off it because she was getting to involved," Nick told them.

"Yeah, Sara wasn't so good when I saw her at the hospital last night," Greg told them. "I think it has something to do with her mother being here."

"Wait, Sara's mother? I thought she was dead. Sara never mentions her family. I thought she didn't have any," Nick said shocked.

"How about we stop speculating about Sara and get to work?" Catherine told them harshly before leaving the room.

"What's up with her, usually she the first in with the gossip," Nick asked, surprised by Catherine's abrupt departure.

"Don't know, but lets get to work before we get in any more trouble. I have to work with her tonight," Greg told them as he got up and followed Catherine out.

Catherine stormed into the Locker room. She opened her locker but slammed the door without taking out the jacket she had come to get. Instead she sat down on the bench. Why hadn't she noticed the other woman had needed help? Obviously the problems she had weren't new and she had on more than one occasion herself added to the Sara's problems. She decided that after shift she would call Sara and hopefully they could catch up for breakfast or something. She would offer her a shoulder and try to mend their relationship. Standing back up she grabbed her jacket before heading out in search of Greg.

* * *

Sara was still at the hospital with Sarah when a lady from social services entered the room. Sarah had just drifted off to sleep so Sara raised a finger to her lips to silence the woman. She gestured for the woman to follow her out into the hall.

"Who are you and what are you doing in that room?" the woman demanded as the door shuts.

"My name is Sara Sidle, I work for the Las Vegas Crime Lab," she told the woman.

"You're not allowed to interview a minor without someone present," she objected.

"I'm not here for work, I'm checking up on her. I was the one who found her last night. I'm no longer on the case and I wanted to see how she is doing," Sara told her calmly, knowing that it would not help to loose her temper with this woman.

"Okay," the woman relaxed a little. "My name is Lisa Hardy, I'm with social services. I have been put on Sarah's case."

"I understand that Sarah has no family, what is going to happen with her?" Sara asked worriedly.

"I am currently looking into foster homes. At the moment she may need to go to a group home until I can find something a little more long term. It's hard to place a child like this."

"Don't I know it?" Sara muttered under her breath. The woman looked up at her curiously.

"Sorry, what was that dear?" she asked.

"Nothing, I was just agreeing. Do you mind if I ask what it takes to become a foster parent?"

"You need to have a background check and you also need to go through eight hours of training to be eligible in the state of Nevada, as well as a Nevada license. The goal is to find a safe, stable, nurturing environment for children who have come from abuse or neglect. From there we try to find someone who will hopefully adopt the child. Children like Sarah though have little chance for adoption as she is older than most people want, plus her past could also be an issue. Are you interested in being a foster parent?"

"I hadn't thought about it before. Maybe."

"Let me give you a business card and you can call me with any questions."

"Thank you, I will."

Sara took the card and looked at it, wondering what she would say to Grissom. They may have one on the way, but neither had experience with children. She left the woman in the hall and went back into the room. She knew she had told Grissom she would rest and have something to eat but she could do that in a hospital. She would go home a little later she thinks to herself as she got more comfortable in her chair.

* * *

I would like to thank Amanda Hawthorn for help on this chapter, I appreciated it. You will hopefully find the grammar improved. Let me know what you think. Please review.


	11. Chapter 11

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Sorry about the wait on this chapter, I've been stuck doing a whole lot of overtime this week. Anyway… I hope you enjoy the chapter.

Disclaimer: I do not own CSI

Chapter 11

Sara was awoken by the ringing of her cell phone. Jolting awake, she was surprised to find it light out. She flips the phone open while raising it to her ear.

"Sidle" she answers.

"Sorry honey, did I wake you?" Grissom asks her.

"Yeah, but I needed to get up anyway" She tell him as she enters the bathroom and grimaces at her appearance.

"Good. I'll be home in 20 minutes to pick you up" Grissom tells her.

"How about you meet me at the hospital" She suggests.

"No, I will pick you up, save us from taking two cars" He replies.

"Actually I am already at the hospital," She reluctantly tells him.

"Sarah Sidle, did you stay at the hospital last night? We agreed that you would rest." She hears the frustration in his voice.

"I did rest. I fell asleep and didn't wake up until you rang." she checks her watch and notices it is already 6:30am. "I got over 9 hours sleep," she tells him "I couldn't tell you the last time that happened"

Relieved that she had at least had a good night sleep, Grissom suggests she meet him by the front door before heading to the appointment. Hanging up Sara washes her face and tries to straighten herself up. Exiting the bathroom she finds Sarah awake and sitting up.

"Hey sweetie, your awake" Sara walks back over to bed and picks up her bag and jacket.

"Your not leaving" Sarah asks her worriedly.

"Just for a little while, I have an appointment upstairs. I be back afterwards ok." Sara explains

"But you will be back" she checks

"Yes Sarah, I will be back" she smiles at the girl and gives her hand a squeeze.

Leaving the room Sara heads downs stairs to meet Grissom. When he arrives 5 minutes later he gives her a quick kiss before they head over to the OBGYN floor. They had checked in with the nurse and take a seat in the waiting room before Sara gets up the courage to speak.

"Gil" she turns to him.

"Sara" he replies turning towards her with a slight grin.

"I was talking to Sarah's social worker last night…" she stops wondering how to raise her question. "…Sarah, she…" she is interrupted by her cell phone.

She grunts frustrated and pull her phone out. Catherine's name runs over the display screen. Confused she answers.

"Sidle"

"Sara, it's Catherine. How are you?"

"Catherine it's not a good time, can I call you back" she asks.

"That's fine, is everything ok?" Catherine asks. Sara starts to answer but is a nurse comes to stand before her

"Sara Sidle, the doctor is ready for you" she is told.

"Cath, I'll talk to you later"

She hangs up not waiting for an answer as Grissom stands and pulls her to her feet. They follow the nurse to a examination room. Sara is told to undress and lay on the table. The doctor joins the a short time later and introduces herself as Dr Carrie starting on some general question.

"This is you first pregnancy?" she asks

"Yes, I hadn't even realized I was pregnant till I was told by a doctor yesterday" Sara explains.

"Yes, I see here you were admitted yesterday. You lost consciousness, high blood pressure, dehydration. Is that correct?"

"Yes, I have been a under a little stress lately." Sara admits.

"She also overworks, and quite often forgets to take breaks" Grissom adds as she glares at him "honey, you do, and you know it. We've talked about this."

"ok, well lets see how things are going" they are told by the doctor.

The doctor starts by taking Sara's blood pressure.

"It's a little higher than it should be, we will need to keep an eye on that. I will give you some pamphlets to read with ways to lower it otherwise we may need to put you on medication to control it. But I want that to be a last result."

She continues her exam finding no other issues.

"Lets have a look at your baby" they are told as she uncovers Sara's stomach. Sara shudders as the doctor applies gel to her stomach.

"I always heard that stuff was cold. They weren't lying" Sara laughs.

"Sorry, I should have warned you" Dr Carrie laughs as well,

Grissom take Sara's hand as the Dr Carrie touches the probe to her stomach and they turn to the screen.

"There's your baby" they follow her finger to the small form on the screen "it looks like your approximately 13 weeks"

"But how, I didn't even notice" Sara asks stunned.

"That is not uncommon. Some women are lucky enough to not get morning sickness. It is also possible to have your period, though lighter, during the first few months. The stress you have been feeling probably hid other symptoms such as tiredness. Do you want to know the sex"

"You can tell us that already" Grissom asks amazed as he moves in for a closer look at the screen.

"I can" she confirms.

"No. I want to wait, at least for the moment, until we know everything is fine" Sara says.

"Well your in your second trimester now. The chances of miscarriage has gone down, but it can't be ruled out yet." she looks down at her notes. "I am suggesting you take thing easy over the nest few weeks. Try to not overwork, try to keep your stress levels down. What do you do for a living."

"I work grave shift for the CSI." Sara tell her.

"I will give you some information on chemicals you will need to avoid. I can also make a note of things you need to avoid to pass on to your supervisor and personal. We also need to get you started on prenatal vitamins."

"just give me anything that could be dangerous for them, I'll take care of it" Grissom tells the doctor, she give him a questioning look. "I'm her supervisor" he replies a looking little sheepish. The doctor laughs slightly as she passes him the information.

Sara and Grissom leave the appointment carrying pamphlets, a prescription and a photo of their baby. Neither can wipe the grin off their faces. Grissom suggests they grab something to eat so they head down to the cafeteria. Sara claims a table for them while Grissom gets their food. As he approached the table with the tray she smiles up at him.

"I don't understand where this happiness is coming from." She tells him. "I always thought I would be fine not having children but now I can't get this stupid smile off my face."

"Your glowing." He tells her taking her hand across the table. She takes the photo out of her bag again.

"This makes it feel so real" she traces her finger over the picture. "I really had no idea I could be…" she looks at him as tears well up in her eyes "do you think I will be a good mother, I have no idea what I'm doing"

"We'll learn together. This baby couldn't ask for a better mother" he squeezes her hand and wipes away a tear.

"Griss, I need to talk to you about something"

"Anything" he assures her.

"Sarah, what if we could be her family" he pulls back

"Sar…"

"No listen. She has nobody, no family. They are going to put her in a group home. That is the one thing worse than foster homes. It's going to be hard on her being the child of a murderer, there will always be whispers, she won't be able to escape it. Trust me I know. I want to be there. No one was there for me, I don't want her to go through what I went through."

"Sara, you have just found out your having a baby. Your under too much stress as it is. We work the night shift, long hours. That isn't a good environment for a child either. She is going to need a lot of attention to help her get past what she has been through. You also have your own past that you need to deal with. Your mother is in town, she wants to see you. You need to deal with too much at the moment." Grissom removes his glasses and rubs his nose as he watches her digest what he has said.

"First off we are having a baby in six months, so either way there will have to be changes in the hour I work. We won't be able to work the same shift when our relationship come out. I have 10 weeks of leave I haven't used and you have fourteen, we both can take some time if we wanted too. As for dealing with my past, maybe helping her deal with hers will help me deal with mine. If I have to help her understand what happened to her, it may help clear some thing up for me as well" she pushes her chair back and stands up.

She turns away and leaves the cafeteria. Walking out the door she bumps into someone.

"Sorry" she mumbles as she moves to pass them.

"Sara" stopping she turns.

"Nick, what are you doing here" she asks

"I've just finished shift and thought I'd have some breakfast" he tells her.

"You came to a hospital for breakfast, checking out the nurses" she jokes slightly

"No, I was just in the interview with Sarah Walters. Poor kid, she's had it rough. They had to stop because of how upset she wa…Sara…" Nick watches, confused, as she takes off down the hall. The door to the cafeteria opens again and for the second time in a couple of minutes someone walks into him "what the he…Grissom?" once again he is surprised.

"Nick, what are you doing here?" Grissom asks looking past him down the hall.

"Sara Walters interview remember."

"Damn" Grissom mutters under his breath as he takes off down the hall.

"What the hell is going on here" Nick asks himself as he decides to follow his boss.

* * *

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This my longest chapter so far. Yay. So what do you think. I love to hear you thoughts so PLEASE leave a review. Anyway I'm off to watch tonight new episode, I can't wait.


	12. Chapter 12

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Disclaimer: I do not own CSI

Chapter 12

Sara rushed into the room. Sarah is curled up in a ball on the bed crying. Lisa Hardy was by the bed trying to sooth her. She looks up as Sara entered.

"She was asking for you" Sara is told as she approached the bed.

"Sarah, sweetie look at me." She sits beside Sarah on the bed. "it's ok, everything will be ok, just let it all out." Sarah turns around on the bed and wraps her arms around Sara's waist as she continues to cry.

Lisa Hardy moves away a little as she watches the pair. She had never seen a child go through an ordeal, such as Sarah had, become so attached to someone so quickly. Usually the child would isolate themselves from the people around them as if to protect themselves from more hurt. After meeting Sara Sidle the night before she had gone back to her office and done some research. What she had learnt had helped her understand the instant connection between the two.

She notices a man is now standing beside her and she looks over. She isn't able to read the expression on his face as he stands there staring at the two on the bed. Clearing her throat, he turns noticing her for the first time since entering the room. Lisa motions for him to follow her outside and reluctantly he follows.

"I think we should give them some time. I'm Lisa Hardy, Sarah's social worker." she offers her hand.

"Gil Grissom" he says taking her hand. "I'm worried that they're getting too attached" he admits to the woman he had just met.

"At the moment I think only good can come out of this, they seem to need each other. I know very little about your Sara, but from what I have learnt I think she may be the best thing for young Sarah."

Grissom move back toward the door and watches the two inside for a minute. Coming to a decision he reentering the room. He moves towards the bed and places a hand on Sara's back.

"Sara" he says quietly and she looks up at him "If we're going to do this we have to talk, really talk."

"Thank you" she whispers before turning back to Sarah.

* * *

Nick had seen Grissom enter Sarah Walters room only to come back out minutes later with the woman from social services. They talked for a minute and Grissom had gone back into the room. When he exited the room again a minute later he and Ms Hardy had walked off down the hall together. Nick now walked towards the door himself. Inside he sees Sara comforting Sarah. They just sat on the bed together with there arms wrapped around each other.

He had known Sara had often gotten too involved in cases, but he could tell this was different, there had to be more to it. Sara had been taken off this case, she had taken personal leave. Why was she still here. Did she know the girl? Nick hadn't gotten that impression the night before. And why had Grissom let her stay here, he was the one to take her off the case. Knowing he wouldn't be able to get the answers to his questions right now he decides to go home, he would call Sara later, make her talk to him.

* * *

Sara and Grissom arrived home hours later. They both crawled into bed and were asleep as soon as there heads hit there pillows. When Sara woke later the bed beside her was empty. Getting up she made her way to the kitchen. Grissom is at the stove preparing dinner. She walks up behind him and wraps her arms around his middle, she leans into him and breathes in his sent.

"We need to go into social services tomorrow," he tells her "Ms Hardy has organized an interview, she is trying to fast track us and we need to make some decisions before then" Grissom turns in her arms and cups her head with his hands, tilting her head backwards he kisses her, "I'm taking the night off, we have to be ready for tomorrow."

"Thank you for doing this, thank you for being so understanding" she rests her head on his shoulder.

"You will need to be able to talk about your past, you will need to be open with them, are you going to be ok with that." he asks rubbing her back.

"I'll have to be. Did you find that letter? I think now might be a good time for me to take a look at it." she asks him leaning back and looking into his eyes.

"The letter… I haven't… it might be at the lab."

"Gilbert Grissom, you have lost that letter. What if someone found it. Who knows what is in it… what my mother wrote." she steps out of his arms upset.

"Sara I'm sure it will turn up. Please calm down. Why don't you call your mum, she's at the Holiday Inn. It would probably be better to hear it from her, she can answer your questions."

"I need some time to think. I'm going to take Hank to the park"

"Wait Sara, I'll come with you"

"No, stay. I have a lot on my mind, I need a chance to sort out myself. We'll talk when I get back." she gives him a quick peck on the cheek before turning to leave.

An hour later Sara had found a bench over looking a pond. She sat down and pulled out a tennis ball. Releasing Hank from his leash she throws the ball and watches as he takes off after it. A minute later it is being dropped at her feet. Picking it up she throws it again. They continue this process for a few minutes until she feels someone presence behind her. Standing up she turns to the person behind her.

"Thanks for meeting me here…"

* * *

I am now regretting naming the girl Sarah, it's confusing me a little. I think i need to give her a nickname, any ideas? please review. The team will start finding out bits and pieces in the next few chapters.


	13. Chapter 13

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Disclaimer: I do not own CSI

Chapter 13

"Thanks for meeting me here…" Sara says as her first look at her mother in 15 years.

"I'm glad you called. I was afraid you wouldn't" they continue to stand with meters between them watching each other cautiously. "you got my letter"

"Actually no. Grissom seems to have lost it somewhere. What did it say?" Sara sits back down on the bench and is slightly relieved as Hank sits down in front of her. Laura move around the bench and also takes a seat on the far side, keeping the space between the two women.

"I wrote that letter over tem years ago. I had known you had gone off the college, I had hoped that you would come back to visit. I wrote the letter when I realized that you weren't coming back. I wanted to explain, not just about that night, but about everything that led to that night." she plays with a handkerchief she holds in her hands. "when you had come to visit, you were never able to look me in the eye, I could barely get you to answer a question, you were so angry. I couldn't find the words then to explain. When your brother came to see me…"

"Wait you've seen Charlie" Sara asks surprised.

"9 years ago your brother was pulling his life together, he went to rehab, got himself cleaned up. He needed answers. I was able to give him some."

"I tried to find him years ago, when I couldn't… where is he?"

"He lives near San Diego. He became a fire fighter. Is married with three kids. He helped me find you." she smiles now as she talks. "he wants to come see you as well, if that's ok with you."

"Of course I want to see him, I haven't seen him in 22 years." they sit in silence for a few minutes.

"I had been planning on leaving you father." shocked, Sara waits for her to continue. "I had been hiding money for months, I was going to get us out of there. Your father found out about the missing money, he blamed your brother. I helped him run away, I thought your father would kill him. I bought him a bus ticket to LA, we were suppose to meet him there. When I came home that night, I found him in your room on top of you…" by now both women have tears in there eyes

"…he hadn't heard me come in, I ran to the kitchen, took a knife and came back. I stabbed him in the back, he move as I was going to stab him again. Instead I stabbed you. I stabbed my own daughter." she cries harder now "he was able to get a hit in after that, broke my nose and cheekbone. I still had the knife when he came at me again, I just wanted it to be over…"

"did you know Dad had been raping me"

"Sara, no. I would have stopped him sooner, I had a lot of problems back then, but I did want to protect you. When he started hitting you I finally woke up. I had a friend in LA, she was going to help us" she reaches across the bench and takes Sara's hand. "I want a chance to get to know you, I want you to know me."

When Sara arrived home she felt better than she had in years. She knew there was still a lot left unsaid, but she felt like she might have her family back. She had a brother, nieces and a nephew, she had her mother, and soon she would have her own children. And most importantly she had Grissom.

Opening the front door Hank pushed past to enter first. Before Sara gets one step inside Grissom appears.

"Where the hell have you been? You've been gone for hours." he asks, voice raised.

"Griss…" she starts but is cut off.

"You can't just disappear every time things get rough. You turned your phone off, you didn't call. I was worried when you didn't come home."

"Gil, stop." she covers his mouth with her hand. "I was with my Mother, we talked." he removes her hand.

"You saw your Mum, are you ok?" his anger changes to worry.

"I'm fine, we just talked, she explained a few things. She knows where my brother is." she wraps her arms around him smiling.

"I'm glad it's working out, that your happy." he gives her a quick kiss. "Oh by the way, Catherine called a while ago, she mentioned that she's been trying to get a hold of you. Maybe you should give her a call."

"there must be a problem with one of my cases, I'll go call her." she gives him another kiss before pulling away and pulling out her phone.

"Willows" Catherine answers.

"Hey Catherine, it's Sara. Sorry I didn't call you back earlier. What can I do for you?" Sara asks.

"I was actually calling to check up on you. It's not like you to take personal leave and I wanted to make sure you were ok." it takes a minute for Sara to answer, Catherine wasn't someone who usually checked up on her. They weren't close in that way.

"I'm fine, just had a few things pop up that I need to take care of. I'll be back at work in a few days" she reassures her co-worker.

"that's good, just remember if you ever need to talk I'm here."

"That's very nice of you Cath, I'll keep that in mind. I'll see you next week, bye" Sara hung up not to sure of what to make of the call. Turning to Grissom she asked. "have you said anything to Catherine"

"No, but you know how she can be, likes to know everyone's business. She's probably just curious to why your taking time off"

* * *

Ok, I know I didn't get into to much detail, with her meeting with her mum, but more will come, just be patient. I have no idea how long this fic is going to be, but as you may have noticed I am some one who takes there time to get to where their going. I hope you are still enjoying the fic. I really don't have much experience writing (again I'm sure you have noticed) so I really appreciate all the support I'm getting. I hope I can keep you interested. Please review.


	14. Chapter 14

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Disclaimer: I don't own CSI.

Chapter 14

Nick, Greg and Warrick were in the break room at the start of shift waiting for Grissom to arrive with their assignments. Nick was filling them in on what he had witnessed earlier.

"She nearly knocked me down as she came out of the cafeteria, she wasn't paying any attention to where she was going. She acted like there was nothing wrong but obviously there was. It surprised me that she was there, I didn't get a chance to ask her how she was. I didn't even finish explaining why I was there before she suddenly runs off. Then someone walks into again, a second time in like a minute, this time it was Grissom. That can't be a coincidence. They had to have been there together, it has something to do with my case."

"How do you know it was about you case" Warrick asked

"Both of them ran off on me as soon as I mentioned Sarah Walters. So either it was the case or I smelt really bad… and I know I didn't smell" He gets up to refill his coffee before returning to the table. "I also followed Grissom when he ran off. He went to the Walters girl's room, and ended up leaving with social Services. Sara was in the room with the girl comforting her."

"But Sara doesn't like kids, remember how had she fought Grissom about him sticking her with that little girl years ago. She has admitted to not being good with kids. I think there the one thing that scares her." Greg puts in.

"You wouldn't be saying that if you had witnessed it yourself" Nick tells him.

"Witnessed what?" Catherine asks as she joins them at the table.

"Sara being good with kids" Warrick answers.

"I don't think I have ever seen Sara with a kid since she made that crack about leaving that girl in the car seven years ago. Why are we taking about this?" Catherine inquired.

"Nick saw Sara at the hospital with Sarah Walters, the girl from his case" Greg explains to her.

"Not just Sara, Grissom was there too. I don't even know why they were there. Sara is on leave and it isn't Grissom's case. And you know how Grissom gets about us getting emotionally involved with cases. I can't work out why her would let her be there after taking her off the case. There is something going on and I think I should know what it is if it involves my cases. I plan to talk to Grissom tonight, try and get some answers." he stops and looks at his watch and frowns "where is Grissom? Shift started 15 minutes ago."

"Oh, Grissom's not in tonight. He had something come up tonight and when I spoke to him earlier he wasn't in a good mood so I didn't ask any questions."

The guys exchanged looks. Grissom was taking a day off, that wasn't something he did voluntarily.

Sara lay on her side watching Grissom sleep. She had to much on her mind to sleep. Rubbing her belly, she thought of the baby growing inside her. It still amazed her that in 6 months she would have a baby, that she would be responsible for something so special. Something that was apart of her and Grissom.

Feeling restless and not wanting to wake Grissom she get's out oh bed and leaves the bedroom, Hank following behind her. Going into the study, Sara turns on the computer. Opening a web page she finds some information about adoption in Nevada. Finding an application form she prints it out. Noting the suggestion of parenting classes she finds some places nearby.

Grissom finds her several hours later still in front of the computer, now looking at baby names.

"Honey, did you get any sleep" he asks walking up behind her and starts rubbing her shoulders.

"Couldn't sleep" she tells him tilting her head backwards to look up at him. "Did you know Sadie is a form of the name Sarah"

"No, I didn't. have you found anything good." he asks.

"Not really, just having a look at what's out there"

"Come on hon, lets get you to bed, you need to sleep. We have a big day tomorrow" he tells her, taking her hand and leading her back to the bedroom.

"Have I told you how happy I am" she asks drawing him to her as he continues walking backwards.

"If it's half as happy as you make me then I'd be content" he tells her as his legs hit the bed and they tumble onto the bed laughing. She straddles his thighs, trapping him. Leaning down she kisses his first on his lips, then each check. She makes her way down his chest before he pulls her back to his mouth.

Coming up for air, her rolls her over so now he is on top. This time he spreads kisses across her face, down her neck and chest taking his time with each breast. As he continues his journey downwards he suddenly stops when he gets to her stomach. He places a few light kisses to her stomach before placing his hand there. Looking up at her he grins. She drags him back to her lips.

"I can't believe were having a baby, that it's growing in you as we speak. I can't wait to meet this little person we have created. I hope she has your smile." she laughs.

"You want to curse your child with gaped teeth. What an awful thing to hope for"

"What? I love you gap, it makes you more special." he tells her with another kiss.

"Fine, then I hope she has your eyes" she tells him.

"Your curly hair"

"Why do you keep picking my worst features." she questions him with a laugh.

"Honey, they are the things I love about you. They are what makes you beautiful, not all beauty needs to flawless. The so-called flaws, as you like to call them, are what make you unique, special.

"You're the only person who can make me feel beautiful. I love you"

"I love you too." he pauses for a moment. Looking deep into her eyes "Marry me?"

"Did you just…."

* * *

You know what to do. Review. Pretty please, with sugar on top.


	15. Chapter 15

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Disclaimer: I do not own CSI

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Chapter 15

"Marry me?"

"Did you just…." Sara looks at him confused. "You want to get married?"

"I do" he smiles "I want us to be a real family" he tells her rubbing her belly affectionately.

"Gil, we don't need a piece of paper to be a family, you already are. You have been my part of my family for years." She tells him.

"I know that. You're my family too, but I want to make it official. I want to have it acknowledged. I want everyone to know your mine. I know a piece of paper isn't important to you. But it is to me. I have never wanted marriage before." he play's with her hand nervously. "With you I do. Think about it please. It would mean the world to me."

"Gil, this is not something I need to think about" she pauses as he pulls away from her obviously upset. "Baby, no, I meant that as a yes" he stops and looks up at her a smile spreading across his face "you're the only person I could ever contemplate marrying"

He turn his back to her, and now she is confused. But he then turns back to her, this time with a box in hand. Flipping open the lid he reveals a ring. The cluster of small diamonds were in the shape of a butterfly. She reached out to trace a finger over it. But is stopped as he takes her hand. Looking up as he draws her hand to his mouth and kisses it.

"Sara Sidle, will you do the honor of marrying me" he asks taking the ring out of the box.

"Yes" she manages to breath out as he slips the ring on her finger.

He pulls her into a kiss which she instantly deepens. When they finally pull away from each other she takes the chance to look at the ring more closely. She laughs slightly.

"Only you, Gil, would be able to find an engagement ring in the shape of a bug." she laughs again "I love it… I love you." She tells him raising her hand to his cheek.

"Actually this was my mothers engagement ring. My love of butterflies actually came from her. Playing with that ring on her finger is one of my earliest memories." bringing her hand back to his mouth he kisses her palm. "She sent it to me the day I told her we were dating." he reveals "I had talked about you so much over the years that she knew that you were my one and only."

"We should call her" she tells him.

"Not now" he tells her rolling her underneath himself. "later" he get out between kisses.

Later as Grissom disconnects with the TTY phone he turns to Sara.

"She is coming to visit, said she will be here Friday night" he wraps his arms around her.

"So she is happy then" Sara asks.

"ecstatic, the moment I said we were engaged she said would be coming. I didn't even have a chance to tell her she was going to become a grandmother." Sara laughs enjoying the warmth of his arms.

"well at least we will get to see her reaction to that news" she tells him.

* * *

Nick and Warrick arrived at the Lucky 7 just as the sun was rising. Getting out of the Denali they approach Brass who is standing just inside the police tape.

"Taking your time tonight fellers" he asks when they reach him.

"Just a small hold up at the lab. What do we have" Nick answers before getting down to business

"Trick roll gone wrong" pointing over to the woman being loaded into the ambulance "she tripped down the stairs while trying to make her getaway"

"well that makes our job a little easier, hopefully we will be home by lunch. Where's our body?" Warrick asks.

"Room 347, up the stairs to the left. I'll meet you up there shortly after I've finished with the witnesses" Brass told them before moving away.

Later after David had taken the body away and they finished up with the scene the guys started discussing Sara again.

"It was weird seeing her like that at the hospital. I had never seen Sara like that before" Nick is telling Warrick as Brass enters the room.

"None of us would expect to see her like that. Sara does tend to hide herself from people. She told Catherine she was fine when she talked to her" Warrick answers him

"Did you guys visit with Sara in the hospital yesterday too?" Brass asks catching the end of the conversation. Both men turn to him surprised.

"What do you mean 'visit with Sara'" Nick demands

"Shit" Brass mutters as he turns and hurry's out of the room pulling out his phone.

* * *

Later that day Grissom and Sara leave Social Services.

"I don't think that went too badly" Grissom tells Sara as he places his hand on the small of her back and guides her to the car.

"But it could have gone better" Sara says "We still have a lot to work out if we want this to happen. You heard what they said about the hours we work. I think they are worried we won't give her the attention she needs."

"Honey, it will take some time to work out the details. It was just a first interview." he tries to reassure her.

"But first impressions count. The fact that we aren't married seemed to be an issue. The news that we are expecting didn't help matter. They think we will forget about her when we have our own child." frustration comes out in her voice as she talks.

"we told them that were engaged, that helped. We will just have to prove to them how badly we want this. Mrs Hardy was on our side. They have our application, know that you have signed us up for parenting classes. They just need to go over everything talk to us some more. Let's take this one step at a time, everything will work out for the best." he presses a kiss to her temple as they reach there car. He unlocks it and opens the door for her. She turn to face him.

"I just really want this. It feels right. Nothing has ever felt this right before." she leans into him and her wraps his arms around her.

"I know what you mean" he tells her as he releases his hold and steps back. "come on lets go home" he says as he helps her into the car.

When they get home Sara walks over to the Kitchen bench and picks up her phone that she had left charging. Surprised she finds 5 missed calls. Raising her phone to her ear she listens to her messages.

"First missed call. 9:13am. Sara it's Jim. I may have let it slip to Nick and Warrick that you were in hospital yesterday. Just giving you the heads up. Sorry. End of message…" Sara frowns as the next message starts.

"…Second missed call. 9:17am. Sara Ann Sidle, you were in hospital and you didn't call me. Are you ok, what happened. Call me back we have to talk…" Nicks had sounded concerned. What was she going to tell him she wondered as another message started.

"…Sara its Warrick. I know Nick just called but I wanted you to know I am here if you need to talk. I hope everything is ok…" he rings off after his offer of support.

"… forth missed call. 10:06am. Nick just called me. Are you ok? You should have called us. We could take care of you. I could be your nurse. Call me…" by now Sara is massaging her head and Grissom has joined her in the kitchen.

"…Fifth missed call. 10:37am. Sara it's Catherine. We're worried about you. You haven't returned any of your calls. We decided to come see how your doing so we're on our way to you apartment…" Sara's eye's shoot to the wall clock. It reads 10:48am.

"What is it? Who called?" Grissom asks.

"Everyone" she tells him "I'm going to have some explaining to do." she says as her phone rings. She looks at it and her shoulders drop as she answers reluctantly. "Sidle"

"Why the hell did I not know you had moved…" Nick demands.

* * *

I think this is my longest chapter yet. What did you think? I am loving the reviews, but am a little sad L . I didn't get as many responses last chapter as I have on previous. You need to understand that opening my email to find reviews brightens my otherwise dull day. Please make tomorrow a good day for me J .


	16. Chapter 16

**Disclaimer: I do not own CSI**

**Chapter 16**

"Did you guys visit with Sara in the hospital yesterday too?" Brass asks Nick and Warrick as he catches the end of there conversation.

"What do you mean 'visit with Sara'" Nick demands

"Shit" Brass mutters as he turns and hurry's out of the room leaving two stunned men behind. Warrick turns to Nick.

"You didn't say anything about her being hurt. Did she look sick" he asks worried.

"No just upset. What do you think Brass meant?" Nick questions. "I'm calling Sara to make sure she is ok" he pulls out his phone and hit his speed dial for Sara. He leaves a message when the voice mail picks up before turning back to Warrick. "She's not answering"

"That's not like Sara, she usually answers the phone at anytime" Warrick pulls his and tries as well. He also leaves a voice mail. "I'm going to call Cath, she may know what's going on"

"I'll try Greg" Nick tells him.

When none of them had gotten any answers Catherine, Nick, Warrick and Greg decided they would investigate and drop by Sara's apartment to check up on her. Nick knocks when they reach her door. They hear movement inside before the door swings open revealing a little old man with a walking stick.

"Can I help you" he asks crankily looking at the group standing in his doorway.

"Um… actually, where looking for Sara" Catherine tells the man

"No, Sara here sorry" he told them impatiently.

"This is Sara's apartment, she has lived here since she moved to Vegas 7 years ago" Greg put in.

"Well she doesn't live here anymore, I've lived here for over a year now. Now if that is all I'm going to get back to my shows." he turns and closes the door in there shocked faces.

"How can you guys not know Sara had moved, your supposed to be her friends" Catherine asks turning to the guys at the same time as Nick says

"How could Sara move and not tell us." he pauses "When I asked her a few weeks ago if she wanted to get together to watch a DVD, she told me her apartment was a mess so we watched it at mine. She lied to me!" he suddenly realizes. "She has been coming up with excuses for a while about not hanging out her place, how did I not realize."

"Well then where the hell is she" Greg asks as Nick pulls out his phone. It ring for a few moments before it is answered.

"Sidle"

"Why the hell did I not know you had moved…" Nick demands angrier than he meant to sound.

"Nick…" she starts but he cuts her off.

"Did you think we wouldn't notice" he asks

"Well it did take over a year" she attempts to joke.

"This is not funny, I thought we were friends" he sounds hurt.

"We are." She tells him "listen, can you meet me at the dinner, we'll talk" Sara asks.

"Fine, we'll meet you there in a hour. You better be ready, we're going to want some answers" he hangs up before she can argue.

Hanging up Sara turns to Grissom who is waiting patiently for some answers of his own.

"What was that all about" He asks

"They found out I moved, Nick is angry at me for not telling him" she tells him "I'm supose to go meet everyone now with some answers" he raises an eyebrow.

"And what kind of answers will you give?" he wants to know.

"I haven't quite worked that out yet. Any suggestions?" she asks hopefully.

"I may have an idea…"

30 minutes later Sara walks into the dinner. Everyone else is already in a booth waiting. They all watch as she walks towards them.

"Hey guys" she said reluctantly as the stops at the booth and slides in next to Greg. Before anyone else can say anything a waitress stops by.

"What can I get you" she asks the group and they all order coffee before Sara asks for a tea. They all look at her strangely.

"What?" she acts confused.

"You ordered tea" Greg tells her.

"Yeah, so what" she asks still acting confused.

"So, I have never seen you drink tea before. Your normally all about the coffee." Greg continues.

"I'm not suppose to drink coffee at the moment" she laughs as Catherine's eyes bulge in realization. "I was admitted to hospital yesterday suffering from dehydration. I need to avoid coffee for a little while" she tells them half the truth as she laughs to herself at the subtle hint she had dropped. Catherine laughs slightly before asking.

"But your ok."

"I will be I just need to take it easy for awhile" she tells her.

"I thought for a minute you were telling us you were pregnant" Catherine tells her and Sara laughs.

"Wow, me pregnant, can you imagine it." and everyone starts to laugh.

"Sara, we need to talk about why we're really here" Nick puts an end to the laughter.

"Yeah, what gives." Greg wants to know.

"I don't know where to start" she tells them.

"Well, how about when you moved" Warrick suggests.

"No, for you to understand I need to go a little further back" she hesitates for a moment before continuing. "About 18 months ago I started to see someone." everyone was stunned silent. "A little over a year ago we bought a house together"

"You have a boyfriend" Greg asks a little jealous.

"And a dog" Sara tells him.

"Do we know him? Why have you hidden him? When will you introduce him to us?" Catherine wants to know all at once.

"I've just tried to keep my personal life separate from my work life. I finally have the diversion in my life that Grissom suggested to me years ago. I will organize an introduction if it will make you happy. I think it's about time that he meets my friends" she smiles at them.

Sara finds Grissom on the couch watching baseball when she gets home. She takes a seat on the arm of the couch beside him and he puts his arm around her waist as she presses a kiss to his temple.

"How'd it go" he asks.

"Part one of your plan is set in motion" she tells him as he pulls her onto his lap and he captures her laughing lips with a kiss.

* * *

Hey everyone, sorry about the wait, I went away for the weekend and didn't take my laptop with me. I'm going to try and have some fun over the next few chapters but there will be more angst. I still have a long way to go so I hope you will all continue this journey with me. Thanks for all the reviews on the last chapter. You made me one very happy girl.


	17. Chapter 17

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Disclaimer: I do not own CSI

Chapter 17

The rest of Sara week off was spent split between spending time at the hospital with Sarah and spending time with her mother. Her relationship with her mother was still a little rocky but was improving. They were able to spend hours talking about their pasts. Sara listened as her mother told her about her time in the mental hospital followed about her time in jail. Sara told her mother about Harvard, and working as a CSI.

It was organized that her brother and his family would come to visit the following weekend. Sara hadn't yet introduced Laura to Gil but she did share with her mother her engagement. The weekend quickly arrived bringing with it Mary Grissom. Sara ended up having to pick her up from the airport alone after Grissom was called into work early.

Over the course of their relationship Sara and Mary had gotten to know each other quite well. Sara had even picked up some sign language. After finding out Sara's mother was in town Mary insisted she join them for dinner. A few hours later all three women were in the kitchen preparing dinner. Sara was happy to see that her mother and soon to be mother-in-law were getting along. It was also Laura's first time at the house. She found a group picture of the CSI team.

"These are the people you work with" she asked studying the picture.

"Yeah, that's the team" Sara tells her making sure to ace Mary so she would be included.

"I met this one" she points Greg out in the picture, "He was nice, but I think I scared him a little that night. I don't normally get emotional around strangers"

"that's ok, Greg is a little nervous around emotional women. I'm sure I've freaked him out a few times. But you are right he is nice, he is sort of like the little brother I never had."

"I also met this man, just for a minute" she now points out Brass.

"Jim Brass, he is a detective we work with, he is also Grissom's best friend" Sara explains.

"Grissom, that's your boss right, that man there right" she points to Grissom. Mary suddenly laughs as Sara realizes she had never explained to her mother that Gil was not just her boss but also her fiancé.

Before she has a chance to correct her mother she hears the front door and suddenly Grissom calls out.

"Sara, I thought I'd come home to have dinner. Where are you?"

"We're in the living room" she calls back as she moves towards the door. He appears quickly and gives her a quick kiss as he enters the room before turning to his mother. Surprised he find Laura Sidle standing next to his mother looking equally surprised. He composes himself and walks over to them. Leaning down he gives his mum a peck on the cheek before turning back to Laura.

"Mrs Sidle, it's a pleasure to meet you again" he says. Sara comes up beside him taking his arm in hers while taking his hand with her other.

"Mum, this is Gil Grissom, my boss… but also my fiancé. I'm sorry, I didn't realize that I had forgotten to mentioned that."

"Well you weren't the only one who didn't tell me" she states raising an eyebrow at Grissom, making him fidget nervously with Sara's hand.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mention anything, at the time I was protecting Sara." he tries to explain.

"Well I guess I can forgive you then" she tell him with a smile.

When dinner is served they take there seats at the table. Mary asks for a glass of wine with her dinner, Grissom also pours Laura a glass but fetches two glasses of water for himself and Sara.

"Gil, you didn't even offer the wine to Sara." Mary signs as he delivers Sara her glass of water.

"That's ok Mary, the waters fine." Sara tells her as she catches on to what has been signed.

"But we're having lasagna, the wine goes perfectly with it. It complements the flavor" Gil raises a hand to stop her from continuing and signs something quickly that Sara is unable to catch but a second later Mary is out of her seat with her arms around Sara who turns to look at Gil.

"Did you just tell her what I think you told her" she asks

"if you mean that you can't drink because your pregnant, then yes I did." he smiles as Laura now jumps up excitedly.

"Oh, honey, congratulations." she joins moves around the table to give Sara a quick hug as Mary move to Gil's side giving him a hug as well.

Eventually they are all seated again enjoying there dinner. Mary continues asking questions though out the meal wanting to know wedding dates, due dates etc. Sara and Gil explained there plans, including their plans to adopt Sarah, who Mary instantly decided that she and Laura had to meet the young girl, so it was decided that they would join Sara for her visit to the hospital the next day.

When Sara returned to work Monday night she had her hand filled with invitation for her colleagues inviting them to a celebration at her home. Getting to work 20 minutes before shift she enters the locker room to put her stuff away. Opening her locker she is surprised to see an unaddressed envelope lying on top of everything. Pulling it out she opens it and starts to read quickly realizing it was the missing letter from a week ago. She had forgotten all about it, but how did it get to be in her locker. Puzzled she heads out of the locker room and towards Grissom's office.

Grissom was seated at his desk doing paperwork when he heard someone clear their throat. Looking up he smiles as he see Sara standing in his doorway.

"What can I do for you this fine evening" he asks as she enters.

"You can tell me how a letter you told me was lost ended up in my locker" She tells him as she shuts the door to give them some privacy.

"You found the letter in your locker" he asks confused. "I definitely didn't put it in there" he admits.

"So what your telling me is that after you lost my letter, someone in this lab found it. It wasn't addressed to me on the outside, so that mean some read the letter. Do you realize what you've done" Sara's voice is now raised with frustration.

"What I've done, Sara it was an accident. I had other thing on my mind that night" he tries to explain.

"This was private, you know how important it was for me to keep this information quiet, you should have been more careful" she yell. "this was no one else's business, they had no right reading it."

"Sara calm down" he demands getting up and rounding his desk drawing her to the couch.

Outside the office people were hearing the raised voices coming from inside. A crowd was forming around the door as nosey lab rats tried to hear what was being said inside. They quickly scatter when Ecklie suddenly appears. Marching over to the office he pushes the door open.

" What the hell is going on in here, I can hear you from my of…" he stops suddenly realizing what he had just walked in on. "Grissom, Sidle. My office NOW!" he yells before turning and leaving the room.

"Shit" Grissom quietly says as he gets up, helping Sara to his feet as the follow Ecklie to his office.

"Close the door" he instructs them as he sits behind his desk. "How long has this been going on" he demands to know, gesturing between the two of them.

"18 months" Sara answers.

"18 months," he repeats shocked that they had managed to keep it under wraps for so long.

"Longer" Grissom puts in.

"Grissom, we've been through this before. It doesn't count until you acted on your feelings" she laughs.

"That's enough. You do realize I could fire you both for this. You both violated the labs rules and regulations" he told them.

"But you won't" Grissom tells him.

"Excuse me, who are you to tell me what I will or won't do" Ecklie fumes.

"I am the person who got this lab to it's number two position. I am the one that brings in 90 of the grants that helps the lab stay up to date with equipment and I am the person companies want to have experiment their new equipment." Grissom lays out his cards not worried at all.

"Well, we'll see what the sheriff has to say about this." Ecklie tries.

"Would this be a good time to give you my resignation then" Sara asks.

"Your quitting" Ecklie is shocked at her lack of fight.

"Sara we haven't decided that this would be our answer" Grissom said.

"But you have to agree it would solve a lot of problems." She reminds him. "We need to be ready, there is a lot still needing to be done and at the moment it feels right to me. I won't rule out going back to work in the future, but at the moment this is what I want." she reassures him.

"Whatever makes you happy" he tells her raising her hand to his lips as if Ecklie was no longer in the room.

"Excuse me, I'm still in the room." Ecklie reminds them of his presence. "Are you serious about leaving your job, Sara, we won't hold it for you if you leave"

"Do what you have to Conrad, I have other options, if and when I decide to go back to work." she tell him no longer caring. "I only ask that you keep this to yourself at least for the moment. I want to be the one to tell people."

"Fine I will keep this to myself, but consider this your two weeks notice… and don't let me catch you two together again otherwise you'll be gone quicker and I will have no hesitation to reveal why to everyone. Now get out of my office" he tells her. "Gil you stay"

The gossip flew around the lab from the minute the raised voices were heard from Grissom office, when Ecklie demanded Sara and Grissom join him in his office the bets started. By the time the rest of the Grave shift had arrived the lab rats all there own story of what had happened and they were all wanting to share. When Nick entered the break room chuckling at the latest story he had heard everyone looked at him.

"Your, not going to believe what I just heard" he told them.

"Is it about Sarah going off the deep end and attacking Grissom with Ecklie coming to his rescue" Warrick asks.

"Where'd you hear that one" Greg wants to know. "Actually let me guess. Hodges"

"You guessed correct"

"Wendy told me that Sara went in there and handed in her resignation only Grissom wouldn't accept it and they ended up in a screaming match" Greg shares.

"Judy told me they had that Sara went in there still mad about the time Grissom made her take off and was demanding more respect but wound up getting suspended again for arguing.

"Well mine beats all of yours. Apparently Ecklie walked in on them having s…" he stops a when Sara enters the room.

"You don't need to stop on my account Nick" Sara tell him with a smile "What was it Grissom and I were doing?" she raises an eyebrow as she waits for him to continue.

"Um, studying an insect" Nick finishes lamely as he back away.

"Wow, I did realize my life had gotten so interesting that it had become news that I was 'studying an insect' with Grissom" she said using air quotes, before turning and pulling a yogurt out of the fridge and taking a seat at the table.

"yeah… well you know how the lab rats are. They will gossip about anything." he finds a seat keeping his distance from Sara.

The rest of the team joins them at the table when Grissom enters. He hands out the assignments for the evening and leaves. As everyone else moves to leave as well Sara pulls out her invitations and passes them out.

"What's this" Greg asks as he takes his.

"I'm having a little get together at my house on Sunday, I'd like for you guys to come" she tells him.

"What's the occasion" Catherine wants to know.

"You will find out if and when you decide to show" Sara laughs as she turns and exits the room leaving behind a group of now very curious investigators.

* * *

So I was hit with inspiration this morning, but this chapter surprised me. It finished in a way I didn't even see coming. So I hope I caught at least a few of you by surprise as well. Let me know what you thing. I want to thank everyone who has reviewed so far. Many of you multiple times. This chapter I'd like a few newbie's to also let me know what you think. I enjoy the feed back, and this was a big chapter for me. So please leave a review. I will try to update again soon.


	18. Chapter 18

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Disclaimer: I do not own CSI

Chapter 18

Greg looked at the invitation in his hand and he wondered what Sara and Grissom were up to. When the group had meet at the dinner last week and Sara had admitted to having a boyfriend he was a little jealous, after all it was Sara and he always did have a bit of a crush on her, even if she saw him as a younger brother type. The fact that he knew the boyfriend was Grissom was a small relief as he knew that she really did care for him, and that he cared deeply for her even if he rarely showed that side of himself. What he had witnessed at the hospital proved it.

He was also enjoying the fact that he seemed to be the only one aware of the relationship. Well except for maybe Brass. He looked at the others still in the break room, they were all examining their invitations as well.

"Well I know where I'm going to be Sunday. How bout you guys?" Greg asks breaking the silence. They all turn to him.

"Yeah, there's no way I'm missing this" Nick quickly agrees.

"Did anyone else notice who quick Grissom was to get out of here. Do you think that maybe Sara went in there to invite him and he didn't take it very well." Catherine suggests. "What, it's not a secret that the two of them have carried a torch for each other for years. If Sara is finally moving on, Grissom wouldn't take that news well."

* * *

Eklies day had started off well. The only way it could have gotten better was if Grissom was leaving as well, but the resignation of Sara Sidle would do for now. It was also very satisfying that he had a reason to write up Grissom. He was just finishing up the paperwork to add to Grissom's file when the sheriff walked in.

"Conrad. What is this I hear about you accepting Sara Sidles resignation" he ask taking a seat.

"I found out this morning that she and Gil Grissom have been seeing each other in secret for the last year. Before I even had a chance to reprimand them she announced her plan to resign. I thought it best to accept the resignation ." He explains quite happily.

"So your telling me that you are letting the CSI with the best solve rates in the state quit without a fight. She has one of the highest solve rate on cold cases in the country. Do you realize what you will be loosing if she leaves. We are so close to becoming the number one lab in the country and a lot of that is because of Sara Sidle and Gil Grissom."

"That may be the case, but she is also a loose cannon. She has more complaints in her file than anyone else in this lab. She is insubordinate with her supervisors. She was very close to being charged with a DUI a couple of years ago, and she often gets too involved with many of her cases." Ecklie argues.

"Have you not noticed that most of the complaints come from those that we find guilty. She is passionate about what she does. It's what makes her the best at what she does, she does not give up. I do not want to loose her. Do whatever you can to get her back before someone else snatches her up." The sheriff demands.

"Well, what about the fact that she and Grissom are dating, he can't stay her supervisor."

"I don't care what the two of them do outside of work if it doesn't effect them on the job. It looks like they can keep there private life separate as they were able to keep their secret for over a year." The sheriff reminds him "Catherine Willows is on grave shift have her take over as Sidles supervisor, do I have to do all the thinking for you. Maybe I was wrong to promote you. I thought you wanted what was best for the lab"

"no, no. I do want what's best for the lab. I'll get her back with us by the end of shift" Ecklie quickly negotiates.

"See that she is. I want to hear the moment this is rectified." the Sheriff turns and leaves.

Ecklie slumps back in his chair, his day ruined. Snatching up his phone he calls his assistant.

"Gladys, I need Sara Sidle in my office ASAP" he barks before slamming it back down.

Sara had ignored Ecklies pages all night, at first because she was working a scene and at the end because she was tired and ready to go home. Unfortunately Ecklie caught her as she was coming out of the locker room.

"Sidle, where have you been. I've been paging you all night" he demanded to know.

"I've been at a scene" she simply answers.

"I need to talk to you. Follow me to my office" once seated in his office he continues. "I ned you to reconsider your resignation"

"What's there to reconsider, you've already accepted it" Sara asks.

"I may have been a little hasty in accepting it. I didn't consider how much you still had to offer us here." Sara looked at him puzzled.

"You have wanted to see me gone for years. What has changed?" She needs to know.

"I didn't take into consideration your dedication to the lab, your solve rate. The sheriff has pointed this out to me, he would like you to stay." Ecklie finally admits. "I'm sure we can work something out."

"I have a reason I want to leave" Sara tells him.

"Well, you still have 10 weeks of leave not taken. I will allow you to take this leave all at once. I want you to use this time to think. You don't need to leave, we can work out a schedule that is better for you. You can change shift if that's what you need" Ecklie tries to negotiate.

"I won't make any promises. Let me discuss this with Grissom" he nods in agreement.

Leaving the office she heads to Grissom's but finds he has already left. Going back to the locker room she grabs her stuff and leaves.

* * *

Just a quick chapter today, the next will be up soon. i really didn't want Sara out of the lab so now i have some options to go with. Hope you enjoyed. Tell me what you think.


	19. Chapter 19

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Disclaimer: I do not own CSI

Chapter 19

Pulling in to her driveway Sara parks her car and jumps out taking note of Grissom's car already parked in it's usual spot. Pulling out her keys she open the front door and calls out.

"Babe, Where are you? You will never guess what happened to me this morning. Ecklie…" She doesn't get a chance to finish when Grissom appears suddenly planting a kiss on her lips.

"Hey" he greats her with a smile, "We need to get to the hospital"

"Hospital? Is it Sarah? Is she ok?" Sara asks as he drags her back outside.

"She's fine. Great in fact. There releasing her" She stops him.

"What? She was suppose to be held for another week." She asks confused.

"They holding her as they had no where to send her. They now do." He explains.

"They found her a home?" she asks sadly.

"They did…" he pauses, "Us."

"Us…?" she repeats slowly, "I don't understand"

"They granted us temporary custody while we wait for our application to go through. I got the call from Ms. Hardy just after I walked through the door. We get to bring her home."

"Home. Here?" Sara slowly takes it all in. "Today. Were not ready. How is this happening so quickly?"

"Honey, I thought this was what you wanted." Grissom asks concerned.

"What? No, I mean we haven't made up a bedroom. We haven't done any shopping. Of course this is what I wanted. I just wasn't expecting it to happen so quickly." she told him as the excitement set in.

"Ms. Hardy wants to get her into a stable environment as quickly as possible. She thinks it will help Sarah get past what has happened. Come on, she's waiting for us." Grissom guides her the rest of the way to his car. "We can take her shopping, let her decide what she wants." He opens the passager door and helps her in. Before he has a chance to close her door she grabs his hand pulling him back to her.

"You are a truly special man Gilbert Grissom" she whispers in his ear as she brushed his check with a kiss. "I don't know what I did to deserve you"

When the reached the hospital they were met by Lisa Hardy. She explained to them that Sarah had been informed that she was going to stay with them. Sarah seemed to have taken the news well but also appeared to be still a little unsure and nervous about everything going on around her. As always as soon as Sara had entered the room she clung to her side.

"Hey sweetie. How are you today" Sara asks her with a hug.

"Good" was she small reply she got back.

"So I hear you are coming home with us today. Are you ok with that?" Sara asks, "Gil and I are really looking forward to having you stay with us" receiving a small nod Grissom moves closer.

"I know Hank is looking forward to have someone you to play with, us oldies tire to quickly for his liking. You like dogs right?" Sarah's face brightens at the mention of the dog and Grissom smiles down at her.

"You have a pet dog" She asks him moving for the first time towards him.

"we do" He confirms.

"I've never had a pet before, my dad didn't like animals" she admits sadly.

"Well as disturbing as it can sometimes be, you won't have that problem at our house. Grissom has a lot of pets. You could say too many." Sara puts in nudging Grissom and winking at the young girls.

"You've never complained about them before" Grissom pouts causing Sarah to giggle at them.

"And I won't again as long as they stay in the basement" She tells him.

"What do you have" Sarah wants to know pulling on Grissom's arm. Screwing up her face Sara bends down.

"He has a whole lot of bugs" she laughs at the wide eyed expression now on Sarah's face.

"There not bad." Grissom tries to defend his beloved pets. "They are very interesting. Have you ever seen a cockroach race" he asks.

"You race cockroaches" Sarah is amazed. "What else do you have?"

"How do you feel about tarantulas?" Grissom asks her.

"One of the boys brought one to school for show and tell. He got in trouble because it got loose. The teacher was so scared she was on the desk screaming. It was funny. I got to hold it." Sara listened amazed, she had never heard Sarah say so much at once. She had tried to bring up Grissom's bugs in a way as to not scare her. She had never expected her to have such an interest. She sits down and listens as Grissom continues talking excitedly about his favorite topic. It was not often he had such a willing audience.

* * *

So you may have noticed I know very little about how adoption/foster care works. Sorry for the mistakes.

I have already started the next chapter and have tomorrow off, so with some encouragement I could have the next chapter ready to go sometime very soon. Please leave a review. Make me a happy girl. Thanks to all those who have reviewed so far. Especially my regulars, you make me happily continue each chapter.

Next chapter: Sarah moves in and takes a new name…


	20. Chapter 20

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There is a lot of fluff in this chapter, just a warning to everyone reading.

Disclaimer: I do not own CSI

Chapter 20

Leaving the hospital the head to the mall. After picking up the essentials they make plans to do some more shopping the next day once Sarah was a little more settled. As soon as they pull into the driveway the front door of the house is thrown open and Grissom and Sara are some what surprised to see both of the mothers come outside, Hank at there side.

"You told our mothers?" Sara asks.

"Well mine is staying with us. She must have called yours. Should we be worried at how well they are getting on." He wonders out loud.

"Maybe, but it is better that they like each other." turning around in her seat Sara looks at the girl in the back seat. "Are you ready for this sweetie" getting a nod in response they climb out of the car.

Grissom move around the back of the car and starts pulling out shopping bags as he watches his mother and Laura excitedly greet Sarah. Hank also excited to see the new addition jumps up knocking Sarah to the ground. Dropping the bags he pulls the dog away but is relieved to find Sarah giggling on the ground.

Later as they are enjoying a late lunch Sara notices that Sarah hadn't said anything for a while. Looking at the girls she find her playing with the food on her plate.

"Sarah, sweetie, are you ok" she asks keeping her voice low as to not attract attention from the others at the table. She gets a mumbled response. "I didn't get that. What's the matter" she asks again.

"I don't want to be Sarah anymore." is whispered back.

"You don't want to be Sarah? Who do you want to be?" Sara asks not understanding.

"I want to be Sadie again" Sara is told.

"Sadie. You were Sadie before?" Sarah nods.

"My grandma called me Sadie. I was named after her, but she always called me Sadie. I like Sadie." Sarah tells her.

"I like Sadie too. Did you know it is a nickname for Sarah." Sara asks.

"No…" she pauses as she looks around the table and for the first time Sara notices everyone else watching and listening to them.

"I like Sadie as well" Grissom now puts in.

"Me too, I can't think of a prettier name" Laura adds smiling. Not to be left out Hank adds his bark of approval. Sara laughs.

"Well I think that final, everyone likes Sadie. Are you going to be able to finish your lunch now Miss Sadie" Sara asks. Getting a big grin in response Sadie digs into the food in front of her.

"Are you sure I have to go to work tonight?" Complains Sara as she is putting on her shirt. Grissom chuckles. He never thought he would see the day that he had to drag his girlfriend to work. If anything he normally had to drag her away. "What, why are you laughing at me?" She demands stopping the buttoning process.

"I'm sorry honey, yes you have to go to work" he tells her moving across the room to where she is standing.

"But it's Sadie's first night. She shouldn't be alone." Sara sticks out her lip pouting.

"She won't be. Our mothers are here. They plan to spoil her rotten. She won't even miss us" He told her as he finishes buttoning he shirt. He smiles to himself as he notices the bottom button is now tight over her belly. He can't help but run his hand over the small swell. "How long until you think it will take everyone to notice this little surprise." Letting her hand join his on her stomach she smiles.

"I don't know, but I am going to have to do some shopping myself tomorrow. I had a little trouble doing up my pants the last couple of days"

"I think you may need to invest in some new bras and shirts as well" He tells her as he can't help admiring her growing chest. She slaps his chest laughing.

"Gil, stop, you will make me self conscious. I don't want to be worrying about popping out of my shirt all night." she tells him checking that all the buttons are secure.

"Well I don't want everyone staring at you either. Your mine, don't forget that." he wraps his arms around her holding her to him.

"Don't go all cave man on me. We still have to get through the rest of the week, we don't want to ruin Sundays surprise." She pulls back.

"No" he grumbles as they separate and head out of there room in search on there mothers and Sadie.

They find them, along with Hank curled up on the couch watching Aladdin.

"Hey, where did you find that" Sara asks.

"Honey, did they find your stash" Grissom laughs

"I have never seen so many Disney in one place. It's ok that we are watching it" Sadie asks now a little worried.

"Of course it's fine" Grissom reassures her "Sara just likes to hide this little passion of hers from people"

"Well now at least I have an excuse to bring out the rest of my collection" Sara tells them.

"There's more" Sadie asks wide eyed.

"I think she has every Disney cartoon ever made. What you found are just her favorites" Grissom puts in. "I was surprised myself when I uncovered this collection. Trust me when I say she will make you watch them all"

"Hey you said you enjoyed watching them" Sara turns to him.

"I did. Mostly because I saw how much you enjoyed it." he turns to Sadie and whispers loudly "She sings along with all the songs, knows all the words. I can't imagine how many time she has watched them"

"Stop picking on me. Everyone loves a good Disney movie" Sara pouts playfully.

"When she was little she would get so excited when one of these movies came out. I never expected it to become an obsession." Laura joins in on the teasing. Sadie giggles.

"Oh no, don't you start." she moves towards Sadie. "Us girls need to stick together, we can torture him together. Make him watch every movie with us."

"What, no. I already had to sit through them all once. Some of them twice. You can take advantage of your new Disney buddy now and leave me alone." he backs away hand raised as he speaks making Sadie giggle again. He turns and escapes quickly leaving everyone else laughing.

"What do you say, next time you want to watch a movie, we'll tie him to a chair." Sara asks Sadie with a wink.

* * *

I tried to warn you about the fluff… Good? Yes? No? Tell me what you think. I decided to take **backstagespotlight** idea for Sadie, i know it took me a while to use it but i wanted there it be some sort of story behind it.

Next chapter will be a long one, should be up in the next few days… Sara's brother arrives with his family.


	21. Chapter 21

****

Disclaimer: I do not own CSI.

Chapter 21

After handing out the nightly assignments Grissom returned to his office to work on his ever growing pile of paperwork. What he didn't realize until he had take a seat in his chair was that he had been followed by Catherine.

"Can I help you with something Catherine, because if I'm not wrong, and I know I'm not since I only just handed out the assignments… you should be on your way to a scene." She pays no attention as she takes a seat across from him.

"Actually, Gil I was wondering if I could take the domestic dispute case tonight." She asks.

"Greg and Sara will be fine. I need you on the homicide." he told her

"I'm sure Sara would prefer the homicide, I don't mind swapping" Catherine argues.

"Don't mind swapping, why on earth…" he stops as it hits him. "You're the one that found the letter" She looks at him in surprise.

"How…? You know about the letter? You know about Sara's past and you still put her on that case. You real don't have any feeling, do you?" Catherine demands angrily. She knew Grissom could be dense when it came to Sara, but she never thought her would knowing treat badly on purpose. "This is about her having a boyfriend isn't it. You found out she has moved on, finally found someone who makes her happy and you want to punish her, just like you did last time."

"Cathe…" he starts as he tries to control his temper but is cuts off.

"Why can't you let her be happy. Why…" this time she is cut off but an angry voice behind her.

"Why can't you mind your own business. You know nothing about me. Nothing about my life."

Sara voice is getting louder as she continues. Grissom had already jumped out of his seat and rushed around his desk shutting the door of the office. Coming up behind Sara he puts a hand on her shoulder but she shrugs it off as she closes the distance between herself and Catherine.

"Grissom knows because I chose to tell him. He knows what cases I can and can't handle. If and when he has decided to take me from a case, that is his decision and I try to respect that. Yes we have fought about it but he has to do what is best and I understand that. But you have to get involved in everyone's business. What will it take for you to realize that if someone wants you to know something they will tell you. You had no right reading that letter. You could have put it down after checking who it was written to, but no, not you, you had to read the whole thing. "Sara stops for a moment as she realizes something. "This is why you called me last week. You have never cared before. But the moment you find out I'm damaged goods you decide I'm worth your time."

Grissom sees the tears now in Sara's eyes and decides he needs to put an end to her shouting.

"Sara, you need to calm down." Grissom pulls her away from Catherine. "Catherine, you need to leave." He tells her not taking his eyes from Sara.

"Sara, I didn…"Catherine tries again.

"LEAVE" Grissom's temper finally gets the better of him "You've caused enough problems for tonight"

Catherine quietly leaves the office, shutting the door behind her. Outside in the hall she find Greg, Nick and Warrick all trying to look busy.

"Nick, let's get to our scene" She says as she quickly walks past. Nick exchanges a look with the guys before following her.

"I think I'm going to head out as well" Warrick tells Greg.

"What do I do, I'm suppose to be with Sara" Greg wants to know. Warrick shrugs not knowing how to answer before turning and also leaving. Greg watches him leave before turning back to the closed door.

Inside the office Grissom has gotten Sara to sit down on his couch and he is kneeling in front of her still trying to get her to calm down.

"Honey, you need to relax. This is not good for you all the baby" She looks up at him tears still in her eyes.

"You think it's ok that she read my letter." she asks hurt.

"No, honey of course not. Everyone here knows that you're a private person. You know that Catherine would not do anything to intentionally hurt you. She was trying to protect you. She just went about it the wrong way" he tries to sooth her.

"so you think this is my fault. I should have known you would side with her. I can't be here right now. I need to get out of here" She pushes him away and gets up.

"Sara, no that's not it. You know that I don't think…" Sara ignores him as she throws the office door open making her escape, nearly crashing into Greg in the process. He was standing just outside the door fist raised as if to knock. "Come on Greg, we have a scene to get too." She grabs his arm and drags him out behind her.

Greg sits silently beside her as she drives to there scene. Sara's phone was ringing for the third time since they had left the lab but still went un answered.

"Do you want me to get that for you" Greg asks at the persistent ringing.

"No" is all he gets in response as she concentrates on the road in front of her.

"Sara… are you ok? Is there anything I can do to help"

"I'm fine" She states as her knuckles turn white from her tight grasp of the steering wheel.

"Obviously" Greg mutters to himself. She turns and glares at him. Sitting up straighter he turns to face her. "Sara, obviously your not fine. I want to listen if it will help. I want to be there for you." she softens slightly.

"Thank you Greg. But no. I don't want to talk about it"

Arriving at the house they are met by Brass. He goes over the scene with them quickly telling them that the wife was on the way to the hospital. The husband was passed out drunk in the back of a back of a police cruiser about to be taken to the station. Sitting on the porch was the teenage son waiting to be questioned.

The scene is processed easily. While Greg finished up inside Sara goes outside to where the son if waiting with an officer. With Sara's arrival the officer heads back over to where a group of other officers are standing.

"Hi, Jeremy. I'm Sara Sidle. Can I ask you some questions" He shrugs disinterested. "Has you father ever hit your mother before" he just shrugs again. "Did you see what happened" this time she gets no response. "Do you even care that your mother is hurt" Sara wants to know.

"Bitch, had it coming" he grunts.

"No one deserves to be hit Jeremy" Sara tells him angrily. "Tell me what happened here tonight?"

"We had enough of her yammering"

"What do you mean by we. Did you get in a few hits as well?" Sara demands to know.

"Women need to learn to mind there own business. Now get out of my face, I'm done talking to you" He turns away from her.

"We're not done until I say we're done." Sara tell him. "I want to know what happened here. Was it your dad who put her in the hospital, or was he to drunk to notice you do it?"

"Your just like her. You don't know when to stop talking." his raised voice draws the attention of the officers a few meters away. "I said get out of my face" he back hands her across the face knocking her to the ground. He moves into kick her but is tackled to the ground by a couple of officers while another one rushes to her side helping her up.

Half an hour later Jeremy had been arrested for the attack on his mother as well as assaulting an officer and was on the way to the station. Sara was sitting on the porch holding an ice pack to her cheek being checked by a paramedic. Greg was hovering at her side. At the sound of a car door slam, Sara turned to him with a glare as Brass rushed over to them.

"What, you told me not to call Grissom." Greg tells her moving away slightly.

"Sara Sidle, what have I told you about provoking suspects" Brass asks as he sits down next to her and checks her face.

"He wasn't a suspect when I started the conversation" She offers weakly avoiding his eyes. Catching her chin he asks,

"Are you ok…?" he asks

"I'm fine…" she tells him, "Were both fine" she adds softly throwing a quick look at Greg to make sure he hadn't heard.

"You know your going to have to tell Grissom. You can't hide that shiner or split lip from him"

"I know. But that doesn't mean I won't avoid telling him.. At least until were safely home" He laughs slightly agreeing that may be best.

"How bout you back to the station, hang with me for a while. Watch me put away some bad guys." he offers "Greg can take care of the evidence. We already have the confession"

Sara had been avoiding his calls for hours. When Greg had returned to the lab alone he had been worried. Once told that she was safely with Brass at the station he relaxed a little. But why wasn't Brass answering his calls either. Then he realized that the former lab rat was avoiding him as well. Greg had disappeared in the opposite direction repeatedly whenever he had see Grissom heading in his direction. At the end of their shift Grissom finally cornered Greg in the locker room. Grissom would have enjoyed watching Greg squirm if he wasn't so worried about Sara.

"Why are you avoiding me?" Grissom asks him.

"I'm not avoiding you, I'm working a case" Greg tells him looking round him at the open door.

"I think you are. Sara and Brass aren't answering my calls and you have been running the other direction at just the sight of me. What are you hiding." Grissom persists.

"Hiding? I'm hiding nothing" Greg answers looking at his nearest point of escape.

"It won't work, I'm not letting you leave until I know what's going on" Grissom moves to block his view. "Now spill"

"I don't know what your taking about" Greg said in a higher pitch than intended.

"Greg…" Grissom warns.

"No, this is between you and Sara. I'm not getting involved in one of your arguments" Greg decides to stand up for himself.

"I am still the boss around here and if something happened at a crime scene I need to know about it" Grissom demands loosing his patients.

"I said I wasn't getting involved. You're the one having the relationship with her. You talk to her." Greg makes his escape from the shocked Grissom and leaves the lab before he can be caught again.

Grissom saw Brass's car in the driveway when he pulled up in front of the house. Entering the house he herd voices coming from the kitchen. Following the voices he finds Brass and Sara. Sara has her back to him as she and Brass chat.

"Good morning" he offers as welcoming but continues without waiting for them to answer. "Would one of you kindly tell me why you have both been avoiding me all night"

Slowly Sara turns to face him. She is nearly fully turned before he sees the bruise across her left cheek.

"What the hell happened" he demands taking her face in his hands examining her cheek and split lip.

"A kid that doesn't like women" Brass offers as answer.

"Why wasn't I called. I should have been told. Are you ok? Is the baby ok?" he lowers one of his hands to her stomach.

"Were fine, he only got one hit before they got him. I told them not to call you. I'm still angry at you." she folds her arms across her chest pulling away.

"Angry at me. I didn't do anything."

"Yes, that's what I'm angry about" She tells him "You stood up for her, she was in the wrong and once again you sided with her. How does she do it. You let her get away with everything."

"That's not true" Brass stood back not wanting to get involved in where the argument was now leading.

"Not true, what did you do when she use evidence to check her fathers paternity. How bout the time her ex was accused of rape and you let her take the case." she throws at him stubbornly.

Neither of them notice the little girl who has come down the stairs as they argue. She had lowered herself on the bottom step as she watched. Tears running down her face as she starts to rock mumbling quietly to herself.

"She was suspended for the test and you know it. And don't act like you haven't got away with plenty yourself. I'm pretty sure I refused to fire you when Ecklie wanted me too. Wasn't it me who picked you up at the police station after you were pulled over for a DUI. I have…" he stops as he hears a small voice behind him grow louder.

"Stop, please stop…please stop." Sadie cries curled up on the step

"Oh my God, Sadie." Sara rushes over to the girl. Sadie jumps up at Sara's approach.

"No" She screams and bolts towards the front door.

Sara is able to catch her as she runs out the door. Sadie tries to fight her off as Sara takes her in her arms. Brass watches helpless as Sadie tries to break free. Sara lowered herself to the ground not letting go mumbling something softly into Sadie's ear. Laura comes rushing down the stairs taking in the sight of her daughter and Sadie both on the floor crying, and Grissom trying to comfort them.

Moving across the room she joins them on the floor. She holds them as they both continue to cry. It takes a while but Sara finally gets Sadie to calm down and fall back to sleep. Looking up she motions for Grissom to take Sadie. Grissom picks her up and takes her up to her room. Sara follows crawling in beside Sadie in the bed, taking her in her arms.

Knowing that they needed some time Grissom pulls the covers over them and presses a kiss to Sara's temple before leaving the room, partially shutting the door. Lowering himself to the ground he leans back against the wall. A moment later he is joined by his mother

"What happened?" she signs.

* * *

So i ended up lying. I know i said you wouls meet Sara's brother this chapter and it didn't happen. For some reason this came out instead. I don't even know where it came from. It definitely was not planed, and it just kept on coming. Longest chapter so far. Yay. So what do you think. does the longest chapter so far mean i will get the most reviews so far. I would like to think so. Please leave a review with your thoughts. I am waiting patiently... Ok i lied again, I am not the most patient person, sorry. Hope you enjoyed.


	22. Chapter 22

****

Disclaimer: I do not own CSI.

Chapter 22

Sara woke up alone. Turning over she looks around the room confused. Memories of the mornings events come flashing back. Jumping from the bed she rushes out of the room. At the top of the stairs she hears the voices down stairs. She hears a small giggle and is able to relax a little. Arriving at the bottom of the stairs she stops. Thrown around the floor of the living room is all the clean laundry that she was waiting to iron. Grissom was playing tug-of-war with Hank to get back a pair of his boxer shorts. Grissom growls at the dog.

"Let go. You can't keep eating my boxes." the dog continues to tug "No Hank, this is not a game" and pulls harder.

This time Hank lets go and Grissom goes flying backwards stumbling over the coffee table. Sadie giggles again from her place on the couch between Mary and Laura, who are both trying not to laugh. Grissom looks over at them with a scowl before Hank comes over deciding the game is not over. He grabs the shorts between his teeth and pulls them from Grissom's grasp. He moves across the room eye's still on Grissom, daring him to come and fight.

"You could at least try to help" Grissom signs and says at the same time.

"But this is a whole lot more fun" Laura tells him as Mary also signs an answer. Grissom glares at them both.

"Well thanks a lot." he grumbles. "I wanted to get this done before Sara wakes up" he gets up off the floor collecting the clothes.

Hank prances around him mocking him with the shorts. Grissom makes a grab for them but Hank is once again too quick for him. Sara moves into the room alerting them to her presence. Hank moves across to her side and she easily takes the shorts off him.

"I have told you on more than one occasion not to do the laundry with Hank in the house. You should know better by know" Sara tells him as she helps him up from the floor.

Once he is back on his feet Grissom grabs Hank by the collar, leading him through the kitchen and out the back door. Returning to the living room everyone is now helping Sara pick up the cloths. Stopping he can't help but grumble.

"Now you help" before picking up a stray sock at his feet.

Once everything was picked up and returned to the basket Sara asked if she could have a minute alone with Sadie. Laura looked at her daughter before turning to Mary speaking slowly,

"I think it's time to get lunch started" they turn heading towards the kitchen.

"I'll go make sure they keep out of trouble" Grissom adds before turning to follow.

"Just because your mother can't hear you doesn't mean that I don't… and don't think I won't tell her" Laura warns him with a laugh.

"I need Brass here. I am surrounded by too many women." Grissom mutters following their mothers.

Sara can't help but laugh a little. He really had been ganged up on over the last week. Looking down at Sadie she smiled,

"Come on, let's go talk outside"

She takes Sadie's hand and leads her out the front door taking a seat on the porch step. Not knowing how to start they sit quietly for a minute.

"I'm sorry we scared you this morning." Sara said before pausing. "I know how earlier might have appeared to you. And we really never meant to scare you. I had a bad day, I was angry, I took it out on Gil. What you don't know is that even though at times we fight we wouldn't physically hurt each other or you. Sometime people fight. It is better to get it out than hold it in. Holding it in can only make it worse." Sara stops to take a breath before she continues explaining "I have held a lot in over the years. There was a time that I felt like I had no one I could talk too and I went on a down hill spiral. Gil helped pull me out. He is the someone I can talk to about anything, and even though we may yell from time to time don't ever think that we don't love each other." Sara looks at Sadie hoping she understands as she sits quietly listening "I want you to know that you can come to us. For anything. We need to know when your sad, hurt, angry so that we can help you. I want you to be able to express yourself" having worked through her speech Sara turns to Sadie "do you understand what I'm saying"

"I think so" Sadie replies with a nod as her eyes examine Sara's face curiously. Realizing how her face appeared Sara raises a hand to her cheek.

"This happened at work, do you remember how I came to your house and found you. Well I was at someone's house today. I met a very disturbed boy. He had hurt his mother and didn't like me asking questions." Sadie's expression turns to worry, "Sweetie, it's ok. I'm ok."

"But what if they hurt you worse next time" Sadie asks tears appearing in her eyes.

"I'll just need to be more careful. I won't put myself in dangerous situations. Ok." Sara raises a hand to Sadie's cheek and wipes away a tear "I am not planning on leaving you, you are stuck with me" Sadie nods wrapping her hands around Sara's waist.

* * *

Sara walked into the dinner. Spotting Catherine in there usual booth she move across the room to join her.

"Hi" she says coming to a stop beside the booth "thanks for meeting me here" Sara slides into the booth noticing a cup of coffee sitting in front of her waiting.

"I wasn't expecting you to call." Catherine pauses searching Sara's eyes, "I am glad you did call."

"I think we really need to talk. We have never really sat down and had a conversation, for that I am sorry." Sara pauses playing with the cup in front of her. "I have always wanted to be friends, I just never knew the best way to approach you"

"I'm sorry I was never approachable. I know I pushed you away for a long time." looking down at the table Catherine admits "You always intimidated me. Things seem to come so easily to you. When you started work I saw how much Grissom already respected and trusted you. I had to work years for that. Then all the guys started dropping like flies. They all swooped around you wanting to be your friend wanting for you to teach them. I was jealous at the friendships you made so quickly. I thought for a long time you would take the friendship I had with Grissom. I had never had to share him with another woman before." Catherine stops and frowns as she hears Sara laugh.

"Oh Cath, I'm not laughing at you, I'm laughing at the situation." Off Catherine's confused look she continues "I was always jealous of you. The friendship you had with Grissom, that I no longer had. They way you could get the guys to do anything you ask. They fact that you had a life outside of work. I just wanted a family for so long. I was alone for so long. I had no one I could talk to. I had kept so much inside for so long, I didn't know how to let it go"

"But that has changed. You now have someone that you love, that loves you. You seem so much happier these days. You told us you have a boyfriend. He is someone you can talk to right." Catherine want to know.

"He is the best thing to ever happen to me. He has brought so much more than I ever expected to my life" Sara starts to glow as she talks. "He was the first person to really know me. Everything, the good, the bad and the ugly. My life has been not the easiest. He has helped me move past that and has given me hope for my, our, future."

"Wow, you really are in love" Catherine notes as she sees the woman across from her come alive. She is a little saddened by the thought of what Grissom had missed out on but could see Sara was truly happy. "I really want to meet the man that can turn Sara Sidle to mush" pausing she takes a sip of her coffee…

"I'm sorry I read your letter" Sara's smile fades but she doesn't speak. "I know I invaded your privacy, I never intended to do that. I found the letter. There was no name on the envelope so I opened it. I never expected to contain anything like that. Once I started reading I couldn't stop myself. It explained so much I never understood about you. I knew you would be upset at the thought of someone reading it. I thought you were the one who had dropped it. I put it in your locker hoping that you would just think you had left it there. I wanted to protect you. I really did. I sorry that all I managed to do was hurt you." Catherine finishes. They sit in silence for a few minutes both playing with there coffee.

"I know what you did wasn't to intentionally hurt me. I felt that my privacy was invaded. There are not many people who know about my past. I had lost contact with everyone that was a part of it." Sara finally looks up at Catherine. "I had been hiding from my past for so long that it scared me when it came after me. I didn't know that to move forward I would first have to go back. But I am still learning. And I finally have my family back. I never realized how much I missed them until I got them back. These last couple of weeks have been the hardest but happiest of my life." Sara reveals.

"I'm glad that you have found happiness. You deserve it." Catherine admits truthfully. "I hope we can get past this. I would like, love, if we could be friends."

"I'd like that too" Sara tells her.

* * *

The confrontations are done, for the moment anyway. I hope you enjoyed this chapter. that's for reading. More will be up in the next couple of days, maybe sooner if I get the chance to finish the next chapter tomorrow. I still have something I need to resolve before Sara's brother arrives. The story has taken on a life of its own and just keeps getting longer. I will try not to let it get to far away from me, I will start reeling it in soon and try and find a way to end it. Just don't know how long that may take…


	23. Chapter 23

****

Disclaimer: I do not own CSI.

Chapter 23

When Sara arrived home she found Grissom alone.

"Where is everyone" She asks putting down her bag.

"They took Hank for a walk" he tells her from his spot on the couch. "We need to talk"

"I know" Sara moves across the room and sits on the coffee table facing him.

"Greg knows about us" Grissom tells her.

"What? How?" Sara is shocked.

"I know he surprised me as well. I was trying to get some answers out of him and he just suddenly tells me 'you're the one having a relationship with her, talk to her' he was definitely not the person I expected to find out first." Grissom told her.

"Greg can surprise you that way. Do the others know" Sara wonders out loud.

"I don't think so. They haven't let on that they know. But then again neither did Greg until he felt trapped" Sara let's out a laugh.

"That teaches you for trying to intimidate him."

"Well, I shouldn't have felt that I had to." he tells her. "I should know that if you have a problem you will come to me, not hide from me"

"I know. I was angry and I didn't want the confrontation. I knew what I did was stupid. I pushed the suspect when I knew I shouldn't. I have to think of more than myself now. I have a lot more to loose." she pauses as tears well up in her eyes, damn hormones, "I don't want to loose you."

"Oh, Honey. You are stuck with for the rest of you life, like it or not. I'm not going anywhere" he pulls her into his arms, "We just have to work on our communication. It has never been a strong point with us" she nods into his chest enjoying his warmth. He hears he mumble something into his chest that he doesn't catch, "what was that honey" pulling back she looks into his eyes.

"Would this be a good time to tell you that Ecklie wants me to stay with the lab" she asks.

"Ecklie said that? When did this happen?"

"Yesterday, I came home to tell you but we ended up picking up Sadie at the hospital and I forgot." she tells him.

"Do you know what changed his mind after agreeing to your resignation so quickly." She smiles.

"Apparently the sheriff got to him. Doesn't want the lab to loose my talents. He was not happy about it, that's for sure. I might just stay just to piss him off some more."

"I don't want you doing anything you don't want to. If you want the time away from the lab take it. You have a lot going on at the moment. But…" he pauses, searching her eye as if for an answer. "I think you might regret it if you leave completely" she slowly nods,

"Ecklie said we could work out something, maybe I can work part time or concentrate on cold cases for a while, I can do that from home so I can be with Sadie and the baby, he even offered to swap me to day shift."

"It's definitely something to consider" Grissom agrees. "Did he give you a time frame for an answer."

"Not really, I told him I needed to talk to you. But I think he would prefer to know sooner rather than later."

"Don't rush your decision. If it is that important that the lab doesn't loose you then he should be patient. I will be ok with what ever you decide." he gives her hand a supportive squeeze. They sit together in a comfortable silence for a few minutes, just enjoying each others presence. Before Sara turns to Grissom.

"I think we should reward Greg for working it out. He seems to have kept this secret for us even though we never asked him to" She suggests after a few moments.

That night Greg arrives at the lab a little nervous. The night before he had spoken back to Grissom, something he had never done before. Plus he had also mentioned his knowledge of Sara and Grissom relationship, he was bound to get a decomp if there was one. Opening his locker to put his jacket away he notices an envelope. Pulling it out he turns it over examining it. The outside is completely blank. Curious he opens it pulling out a card. It was an invitation of some sort. It gave a date, time and address requesting his presence and his alone. At the bottom of the card in bold writing are the words DO NOT PASS ON THIS INFORMATION TO ANYONE. Hearing Nick and Warrick walk in he shoves the invitation back into his locker.

* * *

Your lucky I'm such an impatient person. I was going to wait until I got to 200 reviews before I posted this but I couldn't wait. Sorry I'm keeping this chapter short, but a lot will happen in the next few chapters so keep reading. Can anyone guess what the invitation was about… don't worry it will be good. Please leave a review.


	24. Chapter 24

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And now, finally, Sara's brother… plus a lot more…

Disclaimer: I do not own CSI.

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Chapter 24

Sadie was settling in and apart from the one hiccup they hadn't had anymore huge problems apart from a few nightmares. They had started decorating Sadie's and gotten her enrolled in a nearby school, she was due to start the following Tuesday. Each night Sara and Grissom went to work like nothing had changed leaving Sadie with both their mothers. The rest of the week was spend working out the plans for Sunday. Excitement was mixed with nerves as the day got closer.

Sara's brother arrived on Friday evening, Grissom had given her the night off so she could spend it reacquainting herself with him and meeting his family. Sara had spent the day busily cleaning the house from top to bottom. Grissom played chef for the evening with the help of his mother. Sadie helped by setting the table.

When the door bell rang a seven, Sara when still. She didn't know what to do. She was about to see her brother for the first time in 22 years. She was going to meet his family. She felt a hand at her waist and turns to find Grissom now at her side. Seeing him she is able to relax a little.

"It's time," he whispers softly in her ear and all she can do is nod as he draws her towards the door.

Letting go of her waist he opens it. On the other side stood Laura Sidle holding a young child behind her are a couple and two more children. Grissom greets her with I kiss on the cheek as he invites them in. The woman gives him a friendly smile as he greets her. The man beside her is staring past Grissom at Sara who is still standing slightly behind. Moving back to give them some room the man passes and sweeps Sara into his arms.

Not knowing exactly what to do, Grissom simply watches the reunion in silence until a voice is heard. "Mommy, is that Daddy's sister" breaking the tension in the room and causing the newly reunited sibling to part chuckling. Taking Sara's hand he introduces his family.

"Sara, I'd like you to meet my wife Tara." Tara wraps her arms around a surprised Sara,

"I've heard a lo about you, it's a pleasure to finally meet you" Sara is told as she awkwardly returns the embrace.

"You too," Sara answers as they pull apart.

"And these are our kids, Sophie here is eight" Charlie gestures to a young girl on his right, "That one over there hiding behind her mother is Sarah-Anne, Annie for short, she is three. And last but not least, this is my little man Josh" Charlie moves over to his mother taking his son to bring back over to Sara. "He turns two in a couple of months"

"It's very nice to meet you Josh" Sara shakes the little boys had making him giggle. Laughing Sara turns to her nieces. "It nice to meet you both as well." Moving over to Grissom and wraps an arm around his waist. "This is my fiancé Gil. Gil this is my big brother Charlie" the men shake hands as Sara turns in search of someone, spotting Sadie across the room, Sara rushes over and brings her over to the group. "This is Sadie, she's living with me and Gil, Sadie this is my brother and his family."

"My Mum has been enjoying getting to know you" Charlie tell her crouching down "I am looking forward to getting to know you as well and so is my daughter Sophie, she is about your age" Sophie moves closer,

"Nana says you like Disney. Do you like Beauty and the beast." she asks excitedly.

"I haven't watched that one yet" Sadie replies a little nervous.

"Well it's my favorite. I got it for my last birthday, it's about an enchanted castle and…" Sara stops her.

"How about after dinner we put it on and you can watch it." Sara suggests.

"Really" Sophie squeals, causing the adults in the room to wince, jumping up and down before a hand on the shoulder stops her.

"Honey, inside voice" She is told by her father.

They move towards the back of the house to the kitchen where Grissom introduces his mother who had continued taking care of dinner. With dinner served the adults got the kids set up at a small table in the living room before taking there seat at the dinning room table. In the background they could hear Sophie still telling Sadie about all her favorite Disney movies.

"Looks like you may have some completion honey," Gil tells Sara with a laugh, at the puzzled look on there guests faces Gil explains, "Sara has a little obsessions with Disney herself "

"I remember that, you were always begging to see those movies when they came out" Charlie said with a laugh.

"Don't start that again or I'm banishing you to the living room with the kid after dinner to watch the movie" she glares playfully at him.

"I love your house" Tara said changing the topic. "Especially all the butterflies, there beautiful"

"Thanks, but the butterflies are all Gil. He is an entomologist. You should see the rest of his collection of insects down in the basement, I won't let him keep them upstairs anymore.

Dinner continues with light conversation. Sara and Charlie got the chance to catch up on some of the last 22 years, but as soon as the conversation turned to wedding details Charlie became very interested in seeing Grissom's insects.

* * *

Everyone at the lab was looking forward to Sara's party and it was the main topic of conversation at work Saturday night. It wasn't often that all the lab employees were able to get together out side of work. With the little information they had a bidding pool had started on what the occasion was.

When Catherine arrived at the address on the invitation she was surprised to see how attractive the house was and the neighborhood it was in. It was not what she was expecting. There were already a lot of cars parked in the street. Finding a spot she parked the car and she and Lindsay headed back towards the house. In the front door was a sign to use the side gate. Walking around the house and into the back yard they are welcomed by a large dog running over to them. A moment later Greg also runs over and pulls the dog back.

"Sit, Hank. Good boy" Greg pats the dogs head before greeting them. "Hey Cath, Lindsay. Sorry, Hank here has been doing that with everyone. He's not used to so many people and is a little excited."

"Is he yours" Lindsay asks giving Hank a scratch behind his ears.

"Oh no he's Sara's but she is inside at the moment and she asked if I could keep an eye on him.

"So… you've been here awhile." Catherine asks.

"I was a little early" he answers with a smile. I had something on earlier and it was easier to just come a little early."

"So have you met Sara's mystery man? What's he like." Catherine wants to know.

"Oh yeah, I have met him but I'll let you form your own opinion." is all Greg tells her before having to chase after Hank again as he spots someone else of interest.

"Hey, look. It's uncle Gil. I'm going to say hi" Lindsay told her mother before running off in the direction of Grissom as he came out of the house. Turning around Catherine spots Warrick, Tina, Nick, Mandy and Bobby standing under a tree talking. Grabbing a drink she goes and joins them.

"Hey guys" She says as she joins the group. The greet her before continuing their conversation.

"She has a nice house" Mandy said.

"I was surprised by the dog, I never pegged Sara to be a dog person." Warrick adds.

"Could be the boyfriends" Nick suggests taking a sip of his beer.

"Have you seen him yet" Catherine asks.

"Not yet, just got here a few minutes ago. Haven't even seen Sara yet." Nick told her.

"Greg said she was inside. Probably in the kitchen." she pause looking around the group, "Does anyone else get the impression that Greg knows something we don't?" Catherine asks.

"We were wondering that just before you got here. He hasn't wiped that smile off his face since I've been here" Bobby answers. "But he has been so busy chasing the dog around we haven't had a chance to question him. Hey look" Bobby points towards the house, turning to look at what he is pointing at they see Grissom playing tug of war with Hank as several children stand around him laughing.

"Well that is a sight you don't usually see. Grissom, kids and a dog playing together." Nick says what everyone else is thinking.

"Actually, Gil is really good with kids" Catherine told them. "Lindsay loved hanging out with him when she was growing up." they turned to her surprised. Before turning to see another man and woman join Grissom and the kids.

"That little girl looks familiar." Nick says suddenly.

"Which one?" Mandy asks him.

"The one in the purple dress… she looks like the girl from the Walters case a few weeks ago." they watch as the girl in question as she throws a ball and Laughs as Hank catches it in the air and bring it back to her.

"Maybe they knew her before… you did say you had seen Sara at the hospital with her. Maybe that why she was taken off the case. Why she had that time off." Warrick suggests, just at the moment Brass joins the beer in hand.

"Hello all. Having fun?" He asks as he greets them all.

"Hey Brass. Maybe you can answer a question for us" Catherine asks. "Who's that little girl over there with Gil?"

Which one? Sadie or Chloe. I hope you aren't talking about Lindsay because she's yours." Brass answers with a smirk.

"Ha ha, funny Jim. The one in the purple dress." Catherine tells him.

"That's Sadie" He answers.

"Well, I guess I was wrong then" Nick says with a shrug as Grissom decides to join them.

"Made some friends Griss" Warrick asks with a smile gesturing to the kids he left behind playing with the dog.

"What, oh the kids. Yeah I guess you could say that" he tells them with a shrug.

"Hey there's Sara" Mandy announces spotting Sara exit the house with two older women.

"Isn't that your mother Gil." Catherine asks as she recognizes one of the older women.

"Yes, she is staying with me at the moment." He told her.

"That was nice of Sara to let you bring her"

"Yes, very nice of her" he grins

* * *

Sara was aware of the fact that all of her friends and colleagues were now standing in her back yard. After a brief kiss she pushed Gil out to join everyone. Laura and Mary stayed with her in the kitchen checking food and trying to keep Sara relaxed following a brief panic attack earlier. Finally knowing she could no longer hide Sara also ventured out into the yard stopping just outside where Charlie and Tara were playing with Hank and the kids.

"Doggy" Josh announces clapping his hands together making Sara smile as she moves on towards the group at the back of the yard. After thanking them all for coming Catherine get's straight down to business.

"Sara, when are we going to meet this boyfriend of yours" Catherine wants to know.

"Actually there is something I have been meaning to tell you all. I no longer have a boyfriend." Sara pauses before she smiles at the group "He proposed a couple of weeks ago"

"Oh my God. Where is this man. We definitely need to meet your fiancé" Catherine tells her looking around in search of him. Grissom stayed back head lowered hiding his expression as everyone else offers their congratulations.

"Well, that's the second thing I have to tell you…" she smiles proudly "I no longer have a fiancé either."

* * *

Ooh cliff hanger… well sort of. I'm sure you can all guess what going on. If not I must say I'm kinda disappointed with you… lol. Anyway let me know what you think, leave a review and I'll try to get the next chapter up quickly.

I'm watching CSI as I post this. It just isn't the same without Sara. I hope she does come back at some stage.


	25. Chapter 25

**Disclaimer: i do not own CSI**

**Chapter 25**

_Earlier that day…_

_Sara awakens early hearing movement downstairs. Today she was getting married. She smiled as she stretched. Turning over she find Grissom awake as well._

_"How long have you have you been watching me" she asks before leaning over to kiss him good morning. Before she can pull back he pulls her closer deepening the kiss. They only separate when oxygen becomes an issue. "Well good morning to you too" She now adds._

_"All night" he tells her making her confused,_

_"All night what?" She questions him running her fingers through his hair._

_"Is how long I've been watching you." He answers and her hand stills._

_"All night" she asks again, "You didn't sleep. Baby are you nervous. You haven't got cold feet have you" she pushes herself up into a seated position searching his eyes worried by what she may find._

_"Honey, no." he sits up as well drawing her into him. "this is the most right thing I have ever done. I just can't believe this is real. Your mine."_

_"I've always been yours Gil. You just did not always see it" She tell him resting her head on her chest. "today were just making it legal" they hear a knock and they look to the door as it opens and Mary Grissom appears carrying a tray, Sadie behind her with another tray._

_"Ahh, good your awake" Mary says with her broken English._

_"What's all this" Grissom asks and signs for his mother._

_"We made you breakfast in bed" Sadie tells them carefully placing her tray in front of Sara as Mary passed hers to Gil._

_"You certainly did" Sara says looking at the food in front on before pulling Sadie to sit beside her "Thank you, it looks delicious" Meanwhile Mary signs to Grissom,_

_"Sadie wanted to make you breakfast. This is her present to you" She smiles at them before leaving the room._

_"I hope you are planning to help us eat all this young lady." he tells Sadie "Why don't you join us up here on the bed" he moves over making space between him and Sara for her to sit and she quickly scrambles across the bed to claim her spot and watches as they take there first bites._

_"Do you like it, is it good" Sadie asks_

_"Mmm, Yummy" Sara tells the girl as Grissom takes a sip of coffee and starts coughing, Sadies head whips around to look at him._

_"Went down the wrong way" he chokes out placing the mug on the night stand. "Did you make the coffee too" Grissom asks forcing a smile._

_"Yes, I put in some milk and sugar too." She explains to him. Sadie picks up a piece of toast and starts eating. Sara takes the chance to give Grissom a questioning look 'Salt' he mouths back and Sara tries holds back a laugh at his expression._

_Later that morning Grissom had left with Brass. Sara was in their bedroom getting ready. Letting out a frustrated breath she once again attempts to pin her hair into place_

_"Sara, you ok in there" Sara turns as her mother appears at the door._

_"My hair won't do what I want it to" Sara tells her ready to give up._

_"Let me help" Laura says coming to stand behind her daughter. Sara watches her mother in the mirror as she works. Catching her stare the share a smile. "I never thought I would be able to share this day with you. I'm so happy to be here" Laura admits as she pins the last strand to hair into place._

_"I never though I would be here either. Marriage wasn't something I ever saw myself doing. It wasn't ever something I needed to do, but when Gil asked nothing could have made me say no." Sara turns around facing her mother. "the fact you are here just makes this day happier, my whole family is here to share this day with me." they share a hug stepping back only when someone clears there throat. Sadie and Mary are also in the room now, Sadie dressed in her new purple dress she had fallen in love with the moment she seen it._

_"Wow look at you" Sara says taking Sadie's hand and twirling her. "You look just like a princess" she tells the beaming girl. "I was just about to put on my dress and I need someone who can help me zip it up… Do you know anyone who can help?" Sara asks._

_"Me. Can I do it" Sadie asks jumping up and down causing Sara to laugh._

_"I couldn't think of a better helper" Moving over to the closet she pulls out her dress, not a traditional dress, but instead a long pale blue sun dress that perfectly fitted the simple wedding she and Grissom had planned._

_Greg arrived at the address on the invitation at the time given. Slightly confused to find it a church. Looking around he wondered why he was there._

_"Your right on time. Good" turning around he finds Brass behind him._

_"On time for what?" Greg asks him shaking his hand in greeting._

_"Let's go in and you can see for yourself" Brass tells him heading up the stairs and opening the door. Greg follows him in and up the aisle to the front of the church. A side door opens and Grissom joins them._

_"Greg, I'm glad you could make it" Grissom greets the younger man_

_"Make what? Can someone tell me what we're doing here" Greg asks still confused as to what is going on._

_"Well, I'm kind of disappointed" Brass told Grissom, " You told me this one could work thing out for himself" before turning back to Greg, "Use you power of deduction, what would we be doing in a church that involves two people. Two people you know have been in a relationship" he says slowly watching the realization wash over the younger man._

_"You and Sara… Wow. Congrates" Greg now says as excitement takes over._

_"Actually, you could answer a question for me" Grissom asks him accepting the congratulations._

_"What? Anything." Greg offers._

_"How did you find out, about me and Sara, I mean"_

_"Well, it was kind of obvious when you pulled her into your lap" catching Grissom's confused look he explains "at the hospital a couple of weeks ago… Sara was upset, something about a case… you pulled her into your lap as you comforted her"_

_"I forgot you were there. Why didn't you share this information with the others, it could have made you very popular" Grissom wants to know._

_"I knew you would tell us when you were ready. Plus you had obviously been keeping it quiet for a while I didn't want to be the one to ruin that for you" Greg answers with a shrug._

_"Well thank you for respecting our privacy. Sara thought it only fair for you to be here today since you did that for us and I have to agree." they stop when they hear more people enter. This time people Greg doesn't recognize. Two girls run up the aisle as their parents follow, the man with a little boy in his arms. The toddler squeals "bug" at the sight of Grissom and makes a jump towards him causing all the adults to laugh as Grissom takes the child._

_"You can see them a little later, ok little man" he tell the boy._

_"Bug" Josh repeats again clapping his hands on Grissom's face. Charlie laughs as Grissom tries to pull his head out of reach before another clap. Taking his son back he tells Grissom._

_"Well you certainly made an impression. He has not stopped going on about the bugs since he saw them"_

_"Charlie, you remember Jim from yesterday, and I'd like you to meet Greg. He is a friend and co worker of mine and Sara's. Greg this is Charlie, Sara's brother, and his family" once again hands are shaken as Greg says,_

_"It's good to meet you… Don't take this the wrong way but Sara has never mentioned a brother before."_

_"We have only just found each other after 22 years, so I don't worry no offence taken" Greg is told, leaving him now wondering what had happened 22 years before._

_"That's are longer story than we have time for at the moment. And it's Sara to tell. She will maybe tell it to you one day but that is her decision to make." Grissom tells him quietly upon seeing the confusion._

_When the priest joins them and announces that the bride has arrived everyone takes a seat and they wait while the women make there way up to the front of the church. Grissom is in awe as he takes in the sight of Sara. She smile shyly at him as she comes to stand beside him._

_"Hey" she says quietly_

_"You look beautiful" Grissom tells her taking her hand and giving her a kiss._

_"Oy, none of that" Brass calls out "Your suppose to wait till after the ceremony to do that" causing everyone to laugh. Turning back around Sara and Grissom stand in front of the priest._

_"Are you ready" the priest asks and as the nod he starts "Dearly beloved…" ten minutes later the priest finishes offering them a smile "…you may **now **kiss the bride" he tells them emphasizing the now. Sara and Grissom turns to each other grinning._

_"Hello my wife" Grissom whispers to her._

_"Hello back, husband" Sara answers just before they share there first kiss as a married couple._

_Everyone in the church jumps to their feet clapping and cheering with Greg and Brass adding whistles as the kiss continues a little longer than necessary. Breaking apart Mr. and Mrs. Grissom turn to there friends and family as they are joined at the alter._

Present

"Sara, when are we going to meet this boyfriend of yours" Catherine had asked and Grissom could no longer keep the grin off his face so instead chose to keep it lowered struggling not to laugh and give himself away as Sara made a revelation to there friends.

"Actually there is something I have been meaning to tell you all. I no longer have a boyfriend." Sara paused and he held his breath waiting for her to continue "He proposed a couple of weeks ago"

"Oh my God. Where is this man. We definitely need to meet your fiancé" He wished he could have seen Catherine's face as she found out this information but knew he couldn't. he couldn't quite believe how well Sara was holding herself together as she she'd the next bit of news.

"Well, that's the second thing I have to tell you… I no longer have a fiancé either." everyone starts speaking at once.

"Oh my God" Catherine says in disbelief

"Your married" Nick states as the news sets in

"Congratulations" Warrick and Tina both offer

"Let me see the ring" Mandy was the first to grab Sara's hand to see the proof that Sara was in deed married "Did you get an engagement ring as well or just the wedding ring."

"Both, the engagement ring is inside. I'll bring it out later for you to see. It's gorgeous, passed down from his mother"

"Aww, sweet" Mandy gushes.

"But where is he?" Catherine asks "Where is this husband of yours"

"He's around… actually that's som…"She is cut off as Greg runs over.

"Sara, did you know Ecklie just walked into your back yard." He told he as they all turn to look and see Ecklie was indeed walking towards them, a bottle of wine in hand.

"I invited him" Sara replies shooting Grissom a look. Grissom moves into action and steps away from the group towards Ecklie. Unfortunately Ecklie had nearly reached the group when he is greeted by Grissom.

"Conrad..." He starts but in interupted

"Grissom, Sara. Thanks for inviting me. You have a lovely home. Congratulations" he offers not realizing what he had just revealed as everyone's jaw dropped in shock.

* * *

Lol... I really enjoyed that...

I was tempted to post chapter 25 as just _Earlier that day… _leaving you all hanging but I decided that would be a little mean...

I can't wait to hear what you think of this chapter and the fact that I let Ecklie drop the bombshell on the group. I started this chapter straight after i finished the last, i tried to go to bed before i finished it but was unable to switch my brain off so I got back Up and finished. I am working on my patience though so i held out till morning to post it. The next chapter i hope to have done in a day or two. Haven't started it yet so I'll have to find some time to decide where to go next.

Anyway, I'm waiting to hear what you think. Please, please, please review.


	26. Chapter 26

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Disclaimer: I do not own CSI.

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Chapter 26

__

Earlier that day

There were photo's taken at the church followed by at a park near there house. Everyone then met back at the house to prepare for the party that afternoon. They hadn't been home long when Sara caught Greg alone.

"Hey" she says coming up behind him as he checks of some of the pictures hanging on the walls. One picture in particular seemed to have his attention. Catching a glimpse of it she smile at the memory of the day. It hade been taken shortly after they had met. Back when she was still in San Francisco.

"Just how long have you two been together" Greg asks turning to her.

"Over 18 months" Sara replies. Greg glances back at the picture.

"But there has been something there between the two of you for longer than that" He urges her to continue.

"Gil and I have known each other for close to ten years. We met at a lecture he was giving. I think I had feelings the moment I saw him." she answers.

"Then why did it take so long for you to get together. I can see how happy you make each other and there has been talk at the lab for years about you and Grissom." Greg told her.

"We never made thing easy on each other," Sara agrees. "I'm glad you could be a part of this today"

"I had no idea what was going on. I was worried when I blurted out that I knew about you relationship to Grissom. It scares me what he could do to me. I don't want to be put in between you two again." Greg told her.

"I know, I'm sorry I put you in that position, it won't happen again. I might not even be at he lab much longer" She admits to him.

"What, no you can't leave. Is it because of your relationship with Grissom. Are you being forced out. They can't do that. We can start a protest." Greg rambles on upset by her admission.

"Greg no one is forcing me out. This will be my decision, if anything they are trying to get me to stay. I have been thinking more and more about the future lately and I think the time away may help." She told him.

"you can't drop so many bombshells all at once. First we find out you and Grissom are together. You are now married. And now you maybe leaving the lab. How do you expect me to react. How do you think the rest of the team will react. It is to many chance in to small a time." Greg rants getting more upset.

"It is to much, oh my god, what am I doing, I can't do this. They are going to thing I am taking advantage of Gil. That now I have caught him I am expecting him to take care of me. They all know I have been after him for years. They will hate me for trapping him. And then he is going to realize that I've trapped him. He won't want me anymore. I have forced to many of my problems on him. I am making him change. Gil hates change. He going to start hating me. What am I going to do. I don't want to loose him" tears are now rolling down Sara's cheeks as all her fears begin to surface. "Things were going to good. I let my guard down. I should know by now not to let it down. What are we going to do when he leaves us. I can't do this with out him."

Sara is now crying uncontrollably. Greg just stood there in absolute shock. What the hell had just happened. How had they gone from friendly conversation to breakdown in such short time. And… what did she mean by we. Greg took a step forward deciding he should try to comfort her but she pulled away as she continued to cry. Suddenly they are no longer alone. There us now a room full of people.

"Sara, honey. What is it are you ok." Grissom ask pulling her into his arm while glaring at Greg. "What did you do to her" He then directs angrily at Greg.

"I… I don't know. One second she is telling me she may leave the lab next she is crying" Greg stutters in response.

"What did you say that made her this upset" Grissom demands but is silences when Sara pushes him away.

"Don't yell at him" she now yells at Grissom storming out of the room leaving a stunned group behind. Grissom throws another glare Greg's way before following his wife. Greg remained glued in spot. What the hell was that. Sure he had seen Sara emotional before. But never have she gotten through so many in such a short span of time.

"Don't worry. It's just the hormones speaking. Just be careful what you say around her for the next few months and you will be fine." Sara's mother leans in and tells him. His head shot around to look at her. Did she just say what I think she said, Greg wondered as he was faced with yet another change.

Present

"Grissom, Sara. Thanks for inviting me. Congratulations" he offers not realizing what he had just revealed as everyone's jaw dropped in shock. "Where can I put this" He asks Grissom gesturing to the bottle in his hand.

"Drink table by the back door" Grissom tells him before turning towards the shell shocked group. Moving back towards the group he gets as far as placing a supporting hand on Sara's back before once again they are interrupted by another arrival.

"Hi. We made it… Finally" Wendy tells them followed closely by Hodges. "seriously never take directions from Hodges, he got us so lost. I was going to be so pissed if I missed anything…" she stops realizing no one had responded to her. Looking around the group she sees jaws still dropped as they all stare at Sara and Grissom. Turning to Hodges Wendy punches him in the shoulder.

"Ow. What was that for" Hodges demands rubbing his now sore shoulder.

"You made me miss it" Wendy glares at him ready to punch him again.

"Miss what" Hodges moves a safe distance away from her before looking at the group.

"Obviously I don't know what" she tells him. "But whatever it was, it looks like it was good. Damn it. Why did I agree to come with you" the two of them continue to bicker as the shock starts to sink in"

"You two…" Catherine points between Sara and Grissom. They nod staying quiet as there friends continue processing the information.

"But…" Nick has trouble forming words. Greg wanders up to the group. Seeing the state of shock he turns to the couple.

"So, I see you told them"

"Hold on. Your telling me Greg knew about this. Why does Greg know and not the rest of us" Catherine demands finally finding her words.

"I knew as well" Brass offers with a smirk, Sara shoots him a dirty look.

"Jim you're not helping" Raising his hand he steps back, "Catherine, it's not like we told them. They found out for themselves."

"Actually Gil told me" Brass pipes up again.

"Damn Jim. Are you trying to make this harder." Grissom now glares at him as well.

The CSI's of the group have now pushed forward separating themselves from the lab rats, who have formed there own little circle behind whispering amongst themselves.

"I think what we have forgotten in all of this is our congratulations. Congrates guys, I know you will be happy together. We knew it would happen eventually" Warrick offers his hand generally to Grissom before stepping forward to give Sara a kiss on the cheek.

"Yeah of course you'd be happy for them. They have now done what you did. Run off and got married without inviting any of us. I thought we were your friends, your family." Catherine say's hurt before turning and walking away.

* * *

That's it for now. Don't worry there is more to come soon, just don't want to rush it.

Do you think I am portraying Brass right. I always saw him as a sarcastic character, someone who likes to stir up some mischief. What do you think? Please leave a review, I can't wait to read you thoughts.

I have started a new story. It's a Nick/Mandy pairing called **Remember that night**. I hope you can check it out.


	27. Chapter 27

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Disclaimer: I do not own CSI.

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Chapter 27

They watched for a minute as Catherine walked away. Grissom then made a move to follow her but Sara stopped him with a hand to his chest.

"Babe, let me take care of this" Sara asks quietly

He agrees with a quick nod before pressing a short kiss to her lips. The first display of affection they had shared in front of the group. She turns, heading in the direction Catherine had walked. As the group now watch her leave Nick starts to chuckle.

"She calls you babe" it is soon followed by an "Ow" as Mandy hits him in the chest.

"Leave them alone, it is sweet." She tells him as he glares at her rubbing his chest.

Sara found Catherine in her living room looking at photo's. Picking up one of them from the previous Christmas arms wrapped around each other as they smile at the camera. Returning it to the mantel she now turns to some pictures on the wall stopping at the one that had caught Greg attention earlier. The one of them in San Francisco 10 years earlier.

"I never realized how far back you guys went" Catherine tells Sara without turning around.

"That one was taken Shortly after we met" Sara informs her.

"You both look so happy. I don't know how we missed it." She admits sadly before finally turning around. "I'm not really mad that you kept it from us, more that I didn't notice your happiness. You were constantly making each other miserable for years. We all saw how unhappy you both were, how could we not notice the changers."

"We wanted to keep it quiet in the beginning. We tried to keep the relationship out of our work not just to avoid the gossip but also because of the consciences we could have faced. We didn't want to be on separate shifts. We enjoy working together to much for that."

"But Brass knew, as well as Greg and even Ecklie knows." Catherine points out.

"Brass only found out because he got Gil drunk. As for Greg and Ecklie, Greg was at the hospital a few weeks ago when I wasn't dealing well with a case. Gil was comforting me and he saw us and put two and two together. He didn't even tell us he knew until he got caught up in an argument between us. They move over to the couch and sit down.

"Brass has always known that is the best way to get info out of Gil, he has used that one before. What about Ecklie, he knows and does not seem worried by it." Catherine wants to know

"Do you remember the day when everyone was talking about me and Gil in his office and about how Ecklie walked in. well we were having an argument, about the letter I had just found in my locker" a look of guilt now crosses Catherine's face. "It's not your fault, Gil lost it and I was upset about someone reading something so private, but we have gone through this and I don't blame you. Anyway Ecklie walked in as Gil was trying to calm me down. He yelled and then I told him I resigned, he then accepted the resignation.

"Wait, you quit. You're leaving the lab" Catherine stops her.

"I haven't finished. Anyway it turns out that that the sheriff doesn't want me to leave so now Ecklie has asked me to stay, I haven't decided what I will do yet but I do have reasons behind my resignation that I have to put into consideration."

"So are you going to stay or not" Catherine wants to know.

"That I haven't decided" at Catherine's confused Sara tries a new approach "How bout I introduce you to one of those reasons. Wait here" Sara turns and leave the room hoping Catherine missed her slip of the tongue.

Catherine watches her leave wondering what she would bring back. I couple of minutes later Sara returns holding the young girls they had seen earlier outside.

"Catherine, I'd like you to meet Sadie. Sadie this is Catherine, we work together." Sara introduces them. Catherine looks at the two of them standing comfortably together holding hands.

"I still don't understand" Catherine told Sara.

"Gil and I have temporary custody of Sadie and have applied to adopt her" Sara explains.

"Well, it is very nice to meet you Sadie." Catherine shakes the little girls hand.

"It's very nice to meet you to" Sadie answers politely before turning to Sara. "Is it ok if I go back outside now, Uncle Jim was going to show us a magic trick and I don't wantta miss it"

"Go on then," Sadie runs off and Sara turns back towards Catherine.

"She's the little girl from your case isn't she, but wasn't her name Sarah?" Catherine asks.

"She is. She wants to be called Sadie. It was a nickname given by her grandmother. There are a lot of similarities between what we both went through. At the moment she needs some stability and I want to give it to her. She been through enough. She is still having a hard time with everything, we're just trying to all be there for her when she needs us."

"I can't imagine there is anything else you've been keeping from us." Catherine's says. "but there is more isn't there?"

"Why do you think that" Sara asks.

"Well you did say that Sadie was only one of your reasons for quitting." Sara smiles.

"Ah, you picked up on that."

"Well it's about time I picked up on something" Catherine smiles back.

"Well this is to stay between us at the moment but let's just say the other reason will be showing itself soon" Sara tells Catherine rubbing her hands across her stomach grinning.

"Oh my God. Your pregnant." Catherine pauses as she realizes something "That day at the dinner?"

"We only found out a few days earlier. I was playing with you a little. You were the only one to catch on to my hint." Sara Laughs remembering the look on Catherine's face that day. "you've taken the news a lot better this time."

"I think with the amount of shocks you have dealt us today it is becoming hard to act even more surprised." She leans in wrapping her arms around Sara. "I am happy for you both." leaning back she continues "I'm just feeling a bit lonely these days, it seems that everyone around me is finding love and I'm not. I never though I'd see the day Gil was happily married while I am still single. With Warrick married, and Nick looking like he could also very soon be off the market" off Sara's now confused look "Mandy, she has even got him singing to her to get results, that could only mean one thing. Even Hodges looks like he has some sort of dysfunctional relationship with Wendy. I haven't had a serious relationship since before Eddie died."

"It will come. Men are always after you" Sara offers

"Yeah, but it seem like I always attract and am attracted to the bad boys."

"Well, if it's any consolation, you still have Brass to keep you company. He is always good for a laugh."

"He's probably the last good man out there." Catherine agrees. "If only there was a way to shut him up at times" they both laugh in agreement.

* * *

I know not much happened in this chapter but it comes at the end of a crappy week for me so it's the best I can do at the moment. I wanted there to be a bit more of a reason behind Catherine's being upset and I have always felt that her character seemed lonely the way she always needed so much attention from men.

I will be wrapping this story up in the next few chapters, but I will ask you this, do you want to see Sara and Gil have there baby or will having all the secrets out in the open be enough. Let me know and please review. Sorry about the wait. I will try to get the next chapter up quicker next time.


	28. Chapter 28

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Disclaimer: I do not own CSI.

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Chapter 28

Catherine and Sara headed back out into the yard. They passed a giggling Sadie as she watched Brass do a trick. Grabbing a beer and soda as they go. Across the yard they could see Gil looking very uncomfortable as the team kept asking questions. Coming to stand beside him Sara ran her hand up his back alerting him of her presence.

"You guys need to stop torturing my man." Sara mock glares at the group "You know you won't get anything good out of him. It works better after he has had a few" She presses one of the cold beers into his hand and a kiss to his temple as the group chuckles at Grissom's expense as his ears turn red. He decides two can play that game. Turning to her he states,

"Honey, you are worse than all of them put together" Wrapping an arm around her waist he pulls her closer. "At least I have a way to shut you up"

Taking the group and Sara by surprise he tips her backwards before pressing a passionate kiss to her lips. When he finally lets her straighten it is Sara's turn to blush as the team now gawk at the public display. Nick is the first to break into a smile.

"I suppose this is something we will need to get used to seeing. So we got how long out of Grissom but not the how?" He finishes.

The group silently listen as Sara and Grissom finally share there story. Well most of it, they had to keep some things private. As the story continued the group grew. Mary and Laura joined the group as did Charlie and Tara. Sara took the time to introduce her family to her friends. It wasn't until the question that was on everyone's mind was asked that the yard went silent.

"Why have we never heard about your family before now?" it was an innocent enough question for someone who had no idea about Sara's past. Laura quietly excused herself followed by quickly by Sara's brother and his wife. Sara watches them leave while rubs her back in support. Looking over at him he mouths 'you ok' she sakes her head slightly. Turning to the group she admits.

"We have been estranged until recently. I'm not going to get into detail at the moment but just know I am happy to have them here with me now." needing some space from her friends and needing to check on her family she follows in the direction they headed. The group turn to Grissom.

"It's not my story to tell, just give her some time let her come to you. Don't push her."

Sara found her mother in the living room sitting on the couch holding Josh in her arms. Charlie and Tara were sitting on either side as the entertained the toddler who would squeal with delight at their antics making the adults laugh. Sara stood and watched for a minute before joining them.

"Mum, I'm sorry." She said as she came to stand in front of her mother. "I don't know what to do. I have never talked to any of them…" she stops as her mother raises a hand.

"Sara. Stop. This is not your fault. It is I how should be sorry." Charlie reached for his son and they left the room with Tara for mother and daughter to talk. When they are alone she continues "Sara, I can see that you have some good friends out there but I can also tell that you have some major trust issues. You keep yourself hidden from the people around you and I know that a lot of that is my fault."

"Mum…" Sara starts.

"I'm not finished" Laura stops her. "I can also see that you are trying to move on and I am thankful for that. I am thankful that you are giving me a second chance, that you are getting to know you brother again, that you have found a man who truly loves you and who you truly love in return. You have a child on the way but have also decided to take in another child who you can help get over her own traumatic childhood. The fact that this has all happened in such a short time amazes me and makes me so proud that you are my daughter." Laura wipes away a tear as it falls down Sara's cheek as she talks, "You are strong and independent, that is all you. You could have given up a long time ago but didn't. you deserve this happiness, but it wont be complete until you let the people close to you all the way in. you need to talk to your friends. Tell them your story. Have no regrets. Do what you believe in and what is best for you, not what you think others want from you." she finishes as she leans in and wraps her arms around her daughter. "know that I love you, have always loved you and will continue to love you. I will be there for you no matter what." Sara wraps her arms around her mother returning her embrace. They stay that way for a long time before Sara pulls back.

"There's something I need to take care of." she gets up still holding onto her mothers hand. "thank you" she whispers before turning and leaving the room. Heading back out side she quickly spots the person she needs to see rounding the side of the house.

"Ecklie," Sara call out as she catches him about to leave via the side gate.

"Sara, thanks for the invitation again. I have to get going, I have some paperwork that is waiting. I'll see you at the lab in a few days." He tells her and turning once again to leave.

"Actually that's what I need to talk to you about. I know what I want to do…"

* * *

Not much more to go now. I have loved all the support and encouragement during the process of this story. I thought I would leave you with a real cliff hanger this time instead of an obvious one as I have done on previous occasions.

Can't wait to hear what you think…


	29. Chapter 29

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Disclaimer: I do not own CSI.

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Chapter 29

Sara smiled as she watched her friends from across the yard. She saw Nick say something to Warrick, slapping his friend as he laughed at what ever he had said. She laughed as she saw Warrick grab Nick in a head lock and as Nick wrestled in an attempt to break free. Greg not wanting to miss out on the fun jumped on Warrick's back and Warrick was now tried to get his friend off while not releasing Nick. The women laughed at the antics of the men as Hodges watched on with a sneer at there childish behavior.

"What, may I ask Mrs. Grissom, has you smiling so brightly?" Grissom asked as he came up behind her. He wrapping his arms around her waist and clasped hands protectively over her growing belly. For a minute she just lent back against his chest enjoying his touch and warmth.

"I talked to Ecklie," she told him.

"Does that mean you've made a decision about work," he asked resting his chin on her shoulder.

"I have," she admitted with out continuing.

"Might I ask what that decision was?" he asked.

"You may," she answered him playfully.

"Well whatever it is has certainly put you in a good mood," he told her as she turned in his arms. Reaching up Grissom tucked her hair behind her ear. "Care to share, my dear." he asked pressing a small kiss to her lips between words.

"I had a talk to mum. She told me not to have any regrets. I think if I left the lab I would regret it. It has been a big part of my life for so long I know I would miss it if I withdrew from it completely." she reached up to touch his cheek. "Then there is the fact I would see a whole lot less of you, and I couldn't have that." she leans back looking him straight in the eye. "But I also know how important this time is for Sadie and how much I could miss out on with this one here if I continue working the hours I have been for the last seven odd years…" she trails off.

"Know that I will support any decision you make. I will make more time for you and our family. There is nothing more important than you, our child and Sadie." he told her taking her face in his hands.

"I told Ecklie that I could no longer work full time. I told him I would take my leave as planned and then work a couple of days a week but will also continue going over cold cases from home. I would also try to make myself available if I am needed on case. I have to meet with him on Monday to go over the details but he has pretty much already agreed." She told him smiling.

"I think that's a wonderful idea," Grissom said. He nuzzled her cheek and hair as she wrapped her arms around.

"Get a room," was called out by Greg from behind as the others joined in with some wolf whistles.

"We plan to as soon as you leave," Grissom told the group as he took his wife's hand and led her over to them.

"Eww," Greg cringed and the others laughed as all the kids, including Lindsay, came running over.

"Sara, Sara," Sadie pulled on Sara's shirt to get her attention.

"Yes, Yes," Sara turned, crouching down to the girls height.

"We want to play hopscotch. Can we have the chalk?" she asked as her Sara's nieces danced behind her.

"I will keep an eye on them," Lindsay offered.

"That's very nice of you Lindsay," Grissom told the teenager. "I'll go get you the chalk" he turned walking into the house with all the girls trailing him.

"They're your nieces, right?" Nick asked.

"Two of them, yes. Sadie is a whole other story. Do you think you can take anymore news today?" Sara asked looking around the group.

"I wouldn't think it possible for you to be hiding anything else, I mean you are with Grissom, married, own a house, a dog, are you going to tell us you pregnant next?" Warrick wondered out loud.

"Well… actually," she placed a hand over her stomach. "I am."

"Damn girl, you have been busy." Warrick told her with a hug.

"Wow Sara, Congratulations" Nick added getting in a hug as well.

"There's more…" Sara told them but is cut off.

"More… hang on… Sadie?" Nick slowly puts the pieces together. "She is the girl from the hospital? Sarah, right? The one that got stabbed?"

"She is…" Sara admitted.

* * *

So I got my internet set up quicker than I was expecting so I thought I'd offer I quick update. I will also reveal that the are only two chapters left (possibly three depending on some details I am working out in the last chapter. I have recently had a little lesson in BETA. I know that this chapter isn't perfect but I hope you noticed a little improvement.

I am really excited that this story is nearly over. I know it has dragged on a bit but I have always been a wordy person. I want to thank those people who have consistently stood by me during the writing of this story your support is appreciated, and what has kept me going, even if I don't say it enough. This chapter though, I'd really like to hear from some new people. Tell me what you have thought of the story. The things you likes/didn't like I want to hear it all. Please leave a review.


	30. Chapter 30

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Disclaimer: I do not own CSI.

Chapter 30

__

"There's more…" Sara told them but is cut off.

"More… hang on… Sadie?" Nick slowly puts the pieces together. "She is the girl from the hospital? Sarah, right? The one that got stabbed?"

"She is…" Sara admitted.

"There was something about Sadie and her case that I related to," she looked around at a couple of understanding faces, everyone else just looked confused. "There is something I need to tell," she told them. "This is not easy for me so I need you to not interrupt"

She watched them all nod in agreement but still hesitated. It wasn't until she felt the familiar hand of her husband on the small of her back she relaxed, it was the touch of support she needed to continue.

"I know you have all seen my mother and brother here. Until just this weekend I hadn't seen my brother in 22 years. My mother I had stopped seeing as a teenager but I had lost any real connection to her also 22 years ago," she paused again not ready to say what she needed to say.

"You can do this. It will be okay," Gil whispered into her ear. She leant against him, drawing on the support he offered.

"When I arrived at our crime scene a few weeks ago I thought it was just another domestic dispute turned murder suicide." she looked at Nick who nodded in agreement. "when I went up stairs it was like a flash back. I felt like I was in my childhood bedroom. Even the name on the door was the same, minus the H of course. When I found the Sadie in the closet it was like I saw myself… the young girl who got in the way when her mother was stabbing, killing, her father,"

At the collective gasp she stopped once again looking around the group at the stunned faces of her friends. She could see tears on Catherine's face and in Mandy's eyes, Nicks shocked face had been taken over by anger, Warrick just continued to look stunned. She felt someone take her hand and give it a supportive squeeze, she offered Greg a small smile in appreciation.

"What I didn't know at the time or until recently was that my mother did it to protect me…" not able to look at her friends as the next sentence passed her lips she looked up into the leaves of the tree standing over her, "…after she walked in on my father on top of me." she didn't look down even as she heard the sob of one of her friends, "it wasn't the first time, just the first time she had caught him." she felt Gil wrap his arms around her waist and pull her completely into him.

It was only then she realized she was crying.

"I think we need to take a break" Gil suggested to the group and a few managed to agree before she interrupted.

"No… I need to finish, it will be harder to try and start again later." She wiped the tears from her face. "there is a lot I still don't understand about what back then. I thought it was normal the fighting and abuse, it was all I knew until I went into foster care, and even then the conditions didn't improve a whole lot. A lot of the foster families were in it mostly for the money. I was an outcast at school, I was the girl who's mother killed her father. I thought would escape when I went to college, start fresh. I was the youngest in my class, some resented me for it. I did make one good friend, or so I thought. She would tell me stories about growing up in Ohio, I once started to tell her one of my stories… she started avoiding me soon after. That was when I learnt to keep quiet about my past, it was years before I talked about it again. Gil came to me after I was suspended, he made me talk about it. He didn't run…"

She turned and smiled at the man next to her who gave her a smile in return. "It still isn't something I like to talk about but you needed to know. Gil and I am in the process of adopting Sadie, we have a child on the way. I will be finalizing the details with Ecklie on Monday, but I will be cutting back at work. First I will be taking all my leave I have stored up. Then I will be working part time and when I am needed, I will continue working from home going through cold cases, but I need to be with my family, I need to do that right. Sadie still has a long way to go. I want to put us both into therapy. I don't want her to go through what I went through. I want her to be happy,"

"She will be, with you as her mother," Greg told her, she squeezed the hand he still held in thanks as she smiled. She smile disappeared as she caught sight of Lindsay running into the back yard.

"Sara, Sadie fell. She's calling for you…"

Sara ran past the upset girl, Gil close behind. Running around the house to the driveway she saw Sadie on the ground crying and holding her wrist to her chest. Sara knelt down beside her and the Sadie looked up at her with tears in her eyes.

"Mummy, it hurts…"

* * *

I don't know if I like this chapter or not. Did the way she tell the team go okay. It was the part of the story I had the most problems with. Please let me know what you think. I am going away tomorrow. I want to try and have the last chapter posted tonight or you will have to wait a week for me to get back. I may need some encouragement to get it out as I haven't even written it yet (at least I know how I want to play out).


	31. Chapter 31

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Disclaimer: I do not own CSI.

Epilogue: Chapter 31

Sadie had fractured her wrist the day she fell playing hopscotch. It was also the day she first called Sara mummy, though it didn't become legally correct until four and a half months later when the adoption was completed. It took her a few more months for her to start calling Gil dad..

Sara started counseling. It helped to know she wasn't being judged as she revealed bit by bit to the person who sat across from her. She also got Sadie in with the best child Psychologist in the city. Though at first she had regular nightmares as she relived what she had gone through she was steadily improving and thriving in the loving home she now had.

The team had quickly gotten used to Sara and Grissom being married. Glad that the two of them had found happiness with each other. Sara's brother and his family had returned to San Diego after the wedding, Sara talked to him weekly and Charlie was planning on bringing his family to Las Vegas again for Thanksgiving as it fell just a week before her due date. Sara and Gil had planed to make the drive to spend Christmas eve with them before heading up to Los Angeles to spend Christmas with his mother.

Laura had decided that she wanted to be near her daughter during her pregnancy. She had found an apartment a few miles away and a job at one of the local dinners. She would watch Sadie when Sara and Grissom both had to work. Mother and daughter had grown closer as they spent time with each other, Laura was even attending some of Sara's therapy session

The time off work helped cement the strong bond she felt for Sadie. It also gave them some time to prepare for the baby on the way. Sadie excitement about her brother or sister grew as Sara's stomach grew. Before she knew it was her last shift before going on maternity leave. Sara was just shy of eight months. As she moved slowly around the scene she thought about how much she was looking forward to the end of shift. It was pointless her being there anyway, Nick and Catherine wouldn't let her do anything, She was only allowed to take photo's. She couldn't help but glare at her friends as once again she caught them checking up on her.

Massaging her saw back she decided that she needed to sit down. Moving across the yard she opened the door of the Denali and attempted to get comfortable, something that was nearly impossible these days, once as comfortable as she was going to get she shut her eyes just for a minute. She feeling a nudge she opened her eyes and glared at the person disturbing her.

"Sleeping on the job" Nick asked with a smirk,

"I wasn't sleeping, I just closed my eyes for a minute" she snapped at him.

"Easy there tiger," Nick laughed only annoying her further, " while you were sleeping we finished up. Time to head back to the lab."

"What?" Sara looked at her watch, _damn she had been asleep for close to an hour, _"Why didn't wake me?" he gave her a pointed look. "okay so I've been a little cranky lately, but you try carrying around this, until then back off" she told him rubbing her back.

"You okay there Sar?" Nick asked studying her.

"Fine, you and everyone else need to stop asking me that. I have just been in one spot for too long" she attempted to ease herself out of the car but wasn't able to get out, she let out a huff of frustration, "Nick, I need your help" He quickly offered her a hand and a moment later she was standing beside him.

"Wow Cookie you look ready to pop" Jim said as he came to join them only to be glared at making him laugh.

"That's still not funny Jim. I feel like I'm about to pop," she winced as she finished her sentence.

"Cookie you okay?" Jim was at her side taking a hold of her arm.

"I'm fine," She told him trying to shake him off, "junior here is just making thing a little uncomfortable and my back is aching."

"Sara maybe we should call Grissom," Nick suggested.

"No. I don't need him hovering at the moment. I need everyone to stop hovering." She didn't realize her voice had raised until Catherine appeared around the Denali.

"Ahh, I see you woke sleeping beauty," she grinned at the group.

"Ugh, enough, can we just get out of here…" she stops, her eyes widen and she looked down. "…because I think my water just broke."

"What? Your not due for another month," Nick told her.

"I know that, baby seems to have other ideas…" she panted bending forward. Catherine are both at her side in an instance. Each taking an arm they move her to the passenger side door.

"Nick, a little help please," she called breaking him from his daze, gesturing to the door.

"Right," he jumps into action opening the door, moving Catherine out of the way he half picks up Sara to get her into the car.

"Easy Nick, I'm not a bail of hay" Sara huffs as Catherine rushes around the Denali and jumps into the driver's seat as Nick closes Sara's door and hops in back.

"Jim, call Gil, have him meet us at the Desert Palm Hospital" Catherine ordered.

"Doing it as we speak" he answered phone at his ear. Watching them speed off he raced to his car as Grissom answered. "Gil it's Jim. Sara's water just broke" he told his best friend as he got into his car.

"What? When? Where is she? Is she okay?" he heard his friend sputter.

"Water broke. Crime scene. On the way to Dessert Palm. Fine apart from being in labor." Jim answered the questions. "Do you want me to pick you up on the way?"

"What? No, I'm on my way. Can you pick up Laura and Sadie though?" he asked

"Done. See you at the hospital daddy." Jim smiled as he turned on his sirens.

Nick ran into the hospital entrance stunning some nurses.

"I need a wheel chair stat. pregnant woman in labor," he announced. As he dashed back out the door to help Catherine who was slowly walking Sara in some of the nurses chuckled at the specticle, _first time father,_ they thought to themselves as a wheelchair was collected at taken to meet the patient as she entered. Nick once again tried to lift her into the seat as Catherine couldn't help but laugh.

"Get him away from me now," Sara panted as she felt another contraction.

"Come on Nicky, waiting room is this way," Catherine told Nick as she took his arm and guided him away. They watched as the nurse disappeared with Sara behind a door. "A little excited?" Catherine asked as they made their way to the waiting room.

"What? No just trying to help," he told her as they sat down.

"You are going to be a great husband and father some day Nicky," Catherine gave his arm a pat as she smiled at him.

They were only seated for a minute when Grissom ran in.

"Gil, over here," Catherine called standing up, he rushed over.

"Where is she? Is she okay?" he panted trying to catch his breathe.

"She's fine. Went through there a few minutes ago" she reassured him pointing to the doors Sara had disappeared behind.

"I need to see her" he rushed off not waiting for an answer, first going to the nurses station and then he disappeared with another nurse through the doors.

"You'd think that a woman hadn't had a baby before," Catherine muttered to herself as she sat back down.

As the hours passes the group in the waiting room grew. Catherine and Nick were joined by Jim, Sadie and Laura. After Sadie was set up with some coloring books and crayons Laura also disappeared behind the doors in search of her daughter and son in law. A while later Tina coming from checking on a patient recognized the group. Checking with the nurses station she found out why they were there and called her husband who showed up a short while later with Greg in tow.

"Thanks for the call" Warrick said in welcome, a trace of sarcasm in his voice.

Sara panted as another contraction passed

"That's great Sara, great. shouldn't be to much longer, just another hour or two" Dr Carrie laughed at the all to familiar glare she received from her sweaty patient.

"Honey, your doing great" Gil pushed some hair out of her face and kissed her cheek. "Just think of what we will have when all this is over" Sara turned the glare on him.

"This is your fault. You should be the one having to push this baby out of your body" she winces as the next contraction hits.

"Breathe honey, breathe. Like this," he starts panting gesturing for her to copy him. Any other time she would have laughed at him. Right now all she wanted to do was hurt him.

"Stop…That." She told him between breathes, sighing with relief as she felt the contraction ease from her body.

A little over an hour later she heard the words she had been waiting for.

"Your at ten centimeters Sara. With the next contraction I need you to push. Daddy" Dr Carrie turned her attention to Grissom, "I need you behind Sara, you are going to support her as she pushes. When I tell you I need you to take both her legs and pull them back towards her body," she gave Sara's knee a pat of encouragement. "okay here it comes. Push"

Sara pushed until she was told to stop. She let out a cry as her body protested what was happening. Grissom continued whispering sweetly in her ear and pressed a kiss to the top of her head.

"Okay Gil I need you to draw Sara's legs back. Sara I need you to give me one final push" Dr Carrie told them.

"No… I can't make it stop," Sara cried as her husband held her.

"Just one more push and you meet your baby. Come on I know you can do this. Push, Sara. Push." Sara pushed with everything she had, letting out a cry as she felt the baby leave her body. A moment later the room is filled with the wails of a new born. Sara cried as Gil wrapped his arms around her lovingly as he whispered in her ear.

"You did it. You did it." he repeated over and over between kisses to her forehead and check.

"Someone wants to meet there mummy and daddy," one of the nurses brought the baby, now wrapped in a blanket, over to them.

"Hey baby," Sara said taking a small hand that had escaped the blanket. It's small fingers wrapped around one of hers overwhelming her as she let sobs escape her exhausted body.

Out in the waiting room the group tried to keep them selve amussed as they waited for news. The last update they had received was when Laura returned to them the last time over an hour before. When the doors open and Grissom reappeared, this time with a small bundle in his arms, they all rush over. Grissom looks up from the precious bundle in his arms into the group he now considered family and smiled.

"I have a son…"

* * *

It's over. I hope you enjoyed reading as much as i enjoyed writing.

I have no first hand experience at birth so any mistakes I apologize for. I am excited to have finished this story and would like to thank all those who stuck with me since the beginning or when ever you started to read. Thanks to everyone who has reviewed.

And now time for the shameless plug. If you haven't already, try my new story - Pin Me - another GRS story I have recently started.


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